It started a few weeks ago, and it drives me insane. I rented this house which was cheap and nice looking. I lived here for two months before it started happening. One night I was dreaming and heard a sound in my dream, like someone knocking on a door. I slowly woke up and opened my eyes. What surprised me was that the sound hadn’t stopped. I realized it wasn’t a dream.
I checked my phone. It was midnight. The neighbors were usually asleep then, but I still thought they were partying or something, which caused this sound. It was strangely coming from my door, however. Is someone knocking on my door? I asked myself.
I quickly jumped out of my bed, thinking that someone might need help, and rushed to my front door. I was late, the knocking had already stopped when I got there. I opened the door and looked around, but everything was empty, including the garden and the streets.
It was a strange experience, and I wish that was the worst thing that happened. I went back to bed and quickly fell asleep. The following day, I had already forgotten what had happened that night and went to work. Then the same thing happened that night too.
I woke up again, hearing a continuous knocking on my door. I checked my phone. It was exactly midnight again. It must be some kind of joke, I thought.
I walked to the door, unlocked it, then opened it. Again, nobody was there.
“Hey, idiot!” I shouted. “Don’t dare to wake me up again, or you’ll regret it. Asshole…”
It happened three more times at the exact same time. I spoke about it with one of my coworkers, and he recommended me to buy a security camera, so I can report whoever did that to the police. I agreed and bought a camera as soon as I finished my shift. Installing it above my door was a way harder job than I care to admit, but after a few hours of cursing, it was working.
I went to sleep with a smile on my face, knowing that whoever thought this was funny will get recorded on the camera. I haven’t even slept, instead, I stayed up until midnight watching some series on TV. Of course, at exactly midnight, I heard the knocking. I stayed on my couch, watching the TV. After a few minutes, the knocking still hadn’t stopped. I started to get annoyed, so I stood up and walked to my door, and that was the moment when it finally stopped.
Funny guy, I thought, he waited for me to get to the door, and then he stopped. I opened the door. Nobody was there, as expected. After that, I checked the security camera’s recording because I still hadn’t connected it to my laptop, so I couldn’t see it live. I should’ve waited until morning.
At 23:59, to my surprise, a child ran to my door. I didn’t believe it. For all this time, I was pranked by a child? He was around 7. When the clock hit midnight, he started banging on my door, but I didn’t see any watch or phone with him, so I had no idea how he knew the time.
As he was knocking on the door, he looked straight into the camera. Maybe it was just the strange lighting, but his eyes seemed totally black. I freaked out. I fast-forwarded the recording to that point when I came out. When the kid might’ve heard that I was coming, he jumped down from the stairs and crouched down behind it, then I saw myself opening the door.
I was terrified. The whole time I was looking for someone and shouting like some kind of idiot, that kid was hiding behind the stairs, just beneath my feet. I had no idea what to do. I couldn’t go back to sleep. I kept thinking about that kid. What if he’s still hiding there?
When morning finally arrived, I hurried to work. When I got out of my house, I carefully checked the place alongside my stairs. It wasn’t that tall, it only had four steps, but it was enough for the kid to hide behind it.
I showed the video to my coworkers, and they were freaked out too. I asked them for advice. One of them told me to ask the neighbors if they saw the kid, or if he was knocking on their door too.
That day I talked to five people from the neighborhood, showing the video to them. They told me they had never experienced something like this and had never seen this kid. No one recognized him. I had no idea what to do at that point. I decided that maybe I should talk to the kid. I was afraid of meeting him, I don’t know why, after all, he was just a child. Then I remembered I could talk with him through the security camera because it has a speaker.
So I had a plan for the night. I set everything up, and I watched the camera display on my laptop when the time arrived. It was 23:59. I needed less than one minute, and the kid would appear in front of my door.
Finally, I could see the kid walking up my stairs, and as soon as the clock hit midnight, he started to knock. I turned on the speaker.
“Hey, mate, can I help you? You are really consistent with your… knocking. Do you need help or anything? Where are your parents?”
“Where’s mommy?” the kid responded from outside, through the camera’s microphone. “She used to be here, where’s she? We live here, that’s our house!”
I was shocked by this response. It was totally unexpected.
“Your mommy’s not here, little one. I live here for a few months now. Do you want me to call the police? Maybe they’ll help to find your mommy.”
“Where’s mommy? Where’s she?” the kid cried, but it sounded… unnatural. It was like someone imitating a kid crying. Meanwhile, the kid looked up to the camera, stretching his neck, which was abnormally long, maybe about 10 centimeters longer than usual. I felt uncanny.
“Listen, I have no idea…” I tried to speak to him, but he interrupted me, still crying.
“You killed her! You killed her, you prick,” he shouted, with the focus being on the word prick. He then ran away.
So, since I’m anonymous here, I can swear to god that I haven’t killed anyone, and I would never do such a thing. I had no idea what was he talking about. I think it’s unnecessary to say, but yeah, it was another night without a single minute of sleep for me.
The following day I went to a birthday party for one of my friends. I got home late at night, and I was a little bit drunk. Actually, I was totally drunk, so I decided to go to sleep. I didn’t want to communicate with that kid that night, and I hoped that he left forever, and I would never see him again.
When I woke up the following morning, I realized that I didn’t wake up at midnight because of the knocking. Maybe the kid really left? The blood froze in me as I walked to my front door. It was wide open. I started to remember the previous night, and I was sure that I closed the door. But I didn’t lock it.
I was swearing loudly at the realization, and immediately watched back the security camera’s recording. At exactly midnight, the child walked to my door, but he didn’t knock. He just opened it and walked in. I fast-forwarded the entire night on the camera, and he never left the house. I searched the whole building and found nothing. I even called the police, showing them the security recordings. They also found it strange, but they didn’t manage to find the kid.
Since then, every midnight I hear whispers in the dark. Where’s mommy? You killed her!
I will move out next week, but I’m terrified.