Pt.1: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/axemvn/my_mom_made_us_knock_before_we_entered_every_room/
Hey, guys. First I want to say thanks for the kind words some of you have offered. Though that incident took place five years ago, it was such a surreal and terrifying way to lose a parent. It’s something I obviously try not to think too much about, but after reading all of your theories about my mother’s knocking tradition, I became inspired. A few of you brought up some good points. Why does this affliction seem to only affect my family? Do I have anymore family? Do multiple dimensions exist, and is it possible that my mother is still alive?
My father left us when my sister and I were very young. My mother only spoke of one other relative as we were growing up: Her brother Ward, who lived in the town just north of us. Though he was nearby, my mother had never introduced us to our uncle. She spoke very sparingly of him, but when she did, she seemed to have a certain sadness in her. I found myself curious about him, and ended up going through some of my mother’s things. I found one of those old contact books, and, as I had hoped, Ward’s number was in it. At least, I hoped it was still his number. I stared at the phone a long time, wondering if I wanted to open up old wounds. But if there was a possibility that my mother was still alive, I wanted to find out.
“Hello?” His voice was gruff. I hesitated before responding.
“Hello…am I speaking with Ward Woodson?”
“Who’s asking?”
I licked my lips. “My name is Derwin. I’m-“
“Dorinda’s boy.”
I found myself tearing up. It was good to be speaking to someone else in my family besides my sister for the first time.
“What happened to her? Is she okay?”
My heart dropped. “No, she’s not. Is it possible for me to see you, in person?”
Ward gave me his address and I let my wife know that I was gonna be leaving for a couple of hours. The sun was down when I arrived at Ward’s. I knocked on his front door, and was not surprised to hear a responding knock before the door opened.
Ward was a big man; He towered over me, his face mostly obscured by a wild, gray beard. His eyes, though, were like mine. Like my mother’s.
“Derwin. Come on in.” I walked in and sat on the couch when he motioned for me to. He seemed to be something of a pack rat; Through all of his junk, however, I saw a picture of a young couple who only could have been my grandparents.
“You want a beer?”
“Sure,” I replied, and cracked it open after he handed it to me. He was already drinking one. He sat in a recliner and looked at me, long and hard.
“You have come a long drive to tell me something important.”
“Yes sir. It’s about my mother. She opened a door without knocking.”
“Christ.” Ward stood up and began pacing. I stared down at the floor.
“It was my fault, man. I was being stubborn when she insisted on me teaching my daughter to knock, and she did it to save our lives.”
My uncle shook his head, also staring down at the floor. “Don’t beat yourself up, man. I know exactly how you feel. I uh…I was the reason my old man was taken from me. You know kids, never listening to their parents. I opened the door and he shoved me out of the way. He was taken by them instead.”
We made eye contact. This is exactly what I had come for. I needed to know the truth.
“‘Them?’”
Ward looked like he wanted to tell me something, but then he shook his head and sat back down. He chugged his beer and looked at me.
“We don’t speak of them. There’s a chance they can…come out…if we do.”
I clenched my fists. “Come on, Ward. I need to know the truth. I don’t want my daughter to be at risk for the rest of her life. What if she forgets to knock or something? I can’t bear to lose her, not after what happened to my mom. Please.”
Ward glanced at the nearest door in the room. “I’m telling you…if we talk about them, they can-“
“I’m willing to take that chance.”
Ward looked into my face, sighed, and drained the rest of his beer. “You look like your mother, you know that? I could never forgive myself for what I did to our father. I cut myself away from Dorinda out of guilt. Before it happened, we both thought our pa had lost his mind. He told us about them when we were teenagers. They’re called the Forgotten.”
He glanced over at the door again. I stared at it too, then looked back at my uncle as he continued to speak.
“They exist in a realm that no human can see. At least, none but us. Thirteen generations ago, we had an ancestor named George Woodson. Story goes that he was a sort of blood magic practicioner and messed with things he wasn’t supposed to mess with. That’s when he discovered a dimension that exists right alongside our own. That’s when he found the ones that had been Forgotten.”
The door shook, and both my uncle and myself sprung to our feet. We stared at the door, but there was no more movement.
“Well, nephew, I think that’s enough-“
“No. If you have more to tell me, please do.”
Ward looked at me like I was crazy, but sighed and went on.
“Well, somehow old George survived his initial encounter with the Forgotten. He went on to document what he saw, but those old journals were destroyed somewhere in our line a long time ago. But blood magic is just that…binded by blood. George lost three children before he was able to teach them the only way to avoid the Forgotten realm. Something so simple, yet had to be done every single time. Knocking.”
I was mindblown. I glanced at the door again before asking one last question.
“So he survived after coming across them. So that means it’s possible…possible…that my mom is still alive?”
“I couldn’t tell you. I would rather believe that she’s not, tell you the truth. Just promise me something, nephew. Promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”
“I’m sorry…I can’t make that promise. I have to do something to make things right. I can’t let the Forgotten keep on tormenting-“
The door began to open.
My uncle dashed over to it and rammed his shoulder into it. I heard what sounded like a pained, very humanlike scream emanate from within. That’s when I heard the front door beginning to creak open as well.
I turned and ran, nearly tripping over some of the junk before I got there. I slammed into the door with all my weight, trapping the clawed, gnarled hand that was protruding from within.
“Derwin!” the thing on the other side screeched, and I lost my shit. I pushed harder, but now it seemed as though the thing was forcing it’s leg, which looked malnourished, out to gain leverage on me. I heard a knock behind me and then my uncle was coming to my aid. He stomped on the leg, causing the creature to scream and pull it back in. The arm followed, and, once the door was closed, my uncle knocked frantically. The forceful pushing from the other side stopped.
The two of us stared at the door, panting, sweat rolling down our faces.
“We’ve been talking about them for less than five minutes, and they were able to do all that?”
Ward looked at me. “I told you…they are supposed to remain Forgotten.”
“And if they aren’t?”
Ward swallowed. “Then they will roam freely about this realm.”
Pt.3: https://www.reddit.com/r/nosleep/comments/ayne51/my_mom_made_us_knock_before_we_entered_every_room/