Daniel first heard the knocking on a cold Tuesday night.
Three slow knocks came from his apartment door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
He looked at the clock. It was 12:17 a.m.
Daniel lived alone on the fourth floor of an old apartment building. He had moved there only two months earlier, mostly because the rent was cheap and the neighborhood was quiet.
He walked to the door and looked through the peephole.
The hallway was empty.
He waited for a few seconds before opening the door.
Nothing.
The corridor lights were on, and the elevator stood at the end of the hall. There was no sound except the distant hum of an old ceiling fan.
Daniel closed the door.
The next night, at exactly 12:17, the knocking returned.
Three knocks.
This time he did not open the door.
He stood silently behind it and listened.
Nothing.
The same thing happened the following night.
And the night after that.
Daniel began to feel uncomfortable.
On the fifth night, he decided to stay awake and record the sound on his phone.
At 12:17, the three knocks came again.
Daniel checked the recording immediately.
The knocking was clearly audible.
But there was something else.
A faint breathing sound.
Daniel played the recording again.
The breathing was coming from very close to the microphone.
He looked around the room.
There was nobody there.
The next evening, Daniel called the building manager and asked if anyone else had complained about the knocking.
The manager became strangely quiet.
Then he asked, "Which apartment are you in?"
"407."
The manager sighed.
"Did you hear it at 12:17?"
Daniel's face became pale.
"Yes."
The manager told him that a man had lived in the apartment years earlier. One night, the man had disappeared without explanation.
"People say he used to knock on his own door every night," the manager said.
Daniel laughed nervously.
"That doesn't make sense."
"I know."
The manager paused.
"Because when the police entered the apartment, they found the man dead inside his bedroom."
Daniel stopped smiling.
"Then why was someone knocking on the front door?"
The manager did not answer.
That night, Daniel locked his door and stayed awake.
12:16.
He watched the clock.
12:17.
Three knocks came from the hallway.
Daniel did not move.
Then another sound came from behind him.
Three slow knocks.
This time, they came from his bedroom door.
Daniel slowly turned around.
The bedroom door was closed.
Another three knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
His phone suddenly lit up.
A notification appeared from the recording app.
A new audio file had been created.
Daniel had not touched his phone.
He opened it.
The recording contained his own breathing.
Then a voice whispered:
"Why didn't you open the door?"
Daniel dropped the phone.
The bedroom door slowly began to open.
And from inside the darkness, someone knocked one final time.
This time, the sound came from directly behind him.
Author: Asadullah Galib Al Sadi