Chapter 1
THE DOOR AT MIDNIGHT
Chapter 1: The Door That Wasn't There
Amara had lived in Room 307 of Kingsley Hall for exactly seventeen days before she noticed the door.
At first, she thought it was a prank.
University students did stupid things for attention. They stole people's slippers, hid food in wardrobes, and sometimes went as far as locking their friends outside at midnight.
So when Amara woke up and saw a black wooden door standing at the end of the hallway, she simply stared at it.
Then she checked the time.
12:00 AM.
The hallway was silent.
Too silent.
Amara slowly sat up on her bed.
She had left her door slightly open because the room was hot. Her roommate, Zara, had gone home for the weekend, leaving Amara alone on the third floor.
She looked again.
The black door was still there.
Her heart began to beat faster.
That door wasn't there before.
She knew every door in Kingsley Hall. The rooms were painted the same ugly cream colour, with old brown wooden doors. But this one was different.
It was completely black.
No room number.
No handle.
And it stood where the wall should have been.
Amara swallowed.
Then she heard it.
Knock.
Her body froze.
The sound came from the inside.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Amara covered her mouth.
Someone was knocking from behind the door.
Her phone suddenly vibrated.
She grabbed it so quickly that it almost fell from her hands.
A message appeared on the screen.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
Don't open the door.
Amara stared at the message.
Her fingers shook as she typed.
WHO IS THIS?
The reply came immediately.
Someone who opened it.
The light above her bed flickered.
Amara slowly looked toward the hallway.
The black door had changed.
A silver handle was now attached to it.
She could feel her heartbeat in her throat.
Then another message appeared.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
Whatever you hear, do not answer it.
Amara frowned.
Before she could reply, a voice came from behind the door.
A soft voice.
A familiar voice.
“Amara?”
The phone slipped from her hand.
Her breath disappeared.
She knew that voice.
She hadn't heard it in three years.
“Amara,” the voice whispered again.
Tears filled her eyes.
“No.”
She stepped backward.
The voice behind the door began to cry.
“Please... open the door.”
Amara's knees weakened.
That voice belonged to her younger sister.
Lena.
But Lena was dead.
She had been dead for three years.
Amara shook her head violently.
“This isn't real.”
The door creaked.
Slowly.
The handle turned by itself.
Amara stopped breathing.
The door opened.
Only darkness waited behind it.
No room.
No wall.
No floor.
Just endless darkness.
Then something stepped out.
Amara screamed.
It wore Lena's white dress.
It had Lena's long black hair.
It even had the small scar above Lena's left eyebrow.
But its eyes were completely black.
“Amara,” it whispered.
Her phone vibrated again.
She looked down.
Another message.
This time, the sender's name was no longer unknown.
It was ZARA.
Amara quickly opened it.
ZARA:
Amara, don't turn around.
Amara's blood ran cold.
She had already turned around.
There was nobody behind her.
Then she remembered something.
Zara had left for home earlier that evening.
Slowly, Amara looked at the black door again.
The creature was gone.
The hallway was empty.
The door was closed.
Her phone vibrated one final time.
She looked at the message.
ZARA:
Because I'm the one standing behind you.
A cold breath touched Amara's ear.
And a voice whispered:
“You weren't supposed to read that.”
Amara screamed.
Then every light in Kingsley Hall went out.
---
END OF CHAPTER 1
