"Please, just let me in, it's getting cold!"
The voice was familiar, only older than I remembered. Very close to detail.
"Lala, please."
Using my old nickname was a nice touch as well.
I sat on the floor next to the door, my arms wrapped around my legs. Or course this had to happen the one week my parents left me alone. They hadn't gone on vacation for years, I practically begged them to get away for a while. For their own good. If I called them, they'd come right back but I don't think that would have helped me anyway.
Besides, I wasn't an idiot. I heard the knock and I would not open that door.
When someone comes to your house, they will ring the bell or knock a few times. Most people like to play safe and simply use the bell. And then you open the door as you normally would.
But never, absolutely never, should you open the door when there's only one knock. It was the very first thing we were told when we moved to this neighborhood all those years ago.
There are a bunch of rumors, of people disappearing or suddenly dying after opening their doors though they all supposedly happened before we even lived here.
I never believed in it, not even when I was little. This town was simply insane, most people here were a little eccentric and unusual. Well, that's what I believed until I heard my lost sister call for me, after the one loud knock on our front door.
"Please, go away," I whispered.
Even after all those years, I recognized her voice. And when I heard it I jumped right up, ready to open that door wide. But I knew it wasn't her.
I'd looked through the window. There was nobody in front of our door.
I don't know how much time had passed before I finally grabbed my phone and called Max who's not only our neighbor but one of my closest friends.
"She's here," I said. I knew I wasn't making much sense, I didn't know how to word my thoughts.
"Who? Where?" He answered.
"Ruby."
Silence.
"Wha-," Max started speaking but stopped.
"She knocked."
That was enough information for him.
"You didn't open, did you?"
I shook my head which of course he couldn't see.
"I'm coming over now, okay?"
--
I'm not sure how many minutes passed but Ruby had stopped asking me to open the door.
"Hey, Lainey, I don't think the bell is working," I heard Max. "Maybe they screwed with it."
I swallowed.
"You could knock."
There was silence for a little while, followed by one loud thud.
When I didn't open the door, the sound of Max started shouting loudly.
"Open the fucking door!"
His voice became louder and louder until it hit a frequency that almost made my eardrums explode.
I didn't move, I didn't speak and finally, the doorbell rang and the voice became silent.
Slowly I got up from the door to look outside.
This time it was really him.
--
"The last time I saw her we had the biggest fight of our lives."
We were sitting in the living room with tea that had already turned cold. I don't open up about Ruby often but hearing her voice today really messed me up.
"And all because of stupid Jack," I rolled my eyes.
Max smiled.
"A boy?"
I shook my head and laughed.
"Jack was a stuffed toy in the shape of a pumpkin."
I’d never told Max about the fight, in fact, nobody but my parents knew about it.
"I loved that damn thing. Won it at the Halloween carnival. When Ruby saw it she begged me to give it to her, she cried for hours because she hadn't won it. And even when my parents said they'd buy her another toy she wouldn't stop. She wanted mine."
"Well, she wanted to be just like you. It's sweet."
I nodded.
Ruby was a year younger than me but she used to act as if we were twins. She wore my clothes, played the same sports, and always wanted to hang out with me and my friends. When I think about it now I think it was adorable, of course back then I found it insufferable.
I sighed.
"For days I took Jack everywhere with me, even to the bathroom. It was probably just out of pettiness but that toy became everything to me. So when I came home from school one afternoon and saw that Ruby had cut it in half I screamed at her like never before. She only looked at me with big teary eyes."
Max put his hand on my shoulder.
"Come on Lainey, siblings fight, it's normal. I saw you with her though and you were a damn good big sister."
I nodded. Of course, I knew it was just some stupid fight between kids but if I could turn back time I'd give her every shitty toy I owned.
This happened five years ago. Ruby would be sixteen now.
My parents have tried everything for years to find her. I believe the only reason we still live here is that they never entirely gave up the hope that she'd come back home one day.
Maybe now she was. Just in a different way.
"Do you think I'm losing my mind, Max?"
He raised an eyebrow.
"I think you lost that a whole while ago," he joked.
"No, I'm serious. I mean it's not possible that I actually heard her earlier?"
He shrugged.
"I mean, you did hear a knock. I don't think it was actually her though."
Max and I used to make fun of the superstition. When we were younger, before Ruby disappeared, we once played ding dong ditch. After a few houses, Max decided to knock once at the door of our neighbor Mrs. Tellski. Someone saw us though and Max got the biggest lecture of his life from his grandpa. Like it was a really big deal. My parents weren't happy either, but Max was grounded for two months, during which his grandpa told him all sorts of horror stories from this town.
"I don't think it was her either. But I do think it was mimicking her, or trying to," I said.
"For what it's worth, I think it was smart that you didn't open the door. Maybe we're all just a little crazy but better safe than sorry, right?"
--
Max offered to stay the night and I immediately said yes. We got the air mattress and watched movies until I started to hear him snoring.
The good thing about Max was, I never felt awkward around him. He regularly stayed over since we were little. Especially often after Ruby was gone. Having him here really helped against the silence.
My mind became easier, and my body heavier. Real thoughts started to mix with dreams, I was beginning to fall asleep.
And then there was another knock.
It came from the front door downstairs but I heard it loud and clearly
My heart started racing just like it did this afternoon.
"Max, did you hear that?" I whispered but he didn't answer.
"Lala, it's dark. Please come and get me," Ruby's new voice cried from outside.
"Max, please tell me you hear this."
I looked over at him, but he didn't move. Finally, I collected the courage to get up and turn on the lights.
"Ma-,"
The eyes of my friend were wide open but he didn't speak. He didn't move.
"I ran over to him and tried to shake him but his whole body was stiff. Only his eyes moved."
"LET ME IN!" The voice from downstairs screamed. I didn't know what to do anymore. Max was clearly awake but it seemed as if something was holding him back. Almost like he was having sleep paralysis but with his eyes open.
"They're pulling me away, Lala, please help me."
I don't know what happened then, but I immediately jumped up and ran downstairs. Some kind of instinct kicked in. Maybe it was her. Maybe I could pull her back inside. But if this was really Ruby, was she also the one doing this to Max?
My hands touched the cold door handle, moving almost as if I was in a trance.
"I have Jack. They fixed him, Lala. We don't need to fight anymore."
Those words pierced through my body and woke something up inside of me. I stepped away from the door and walked back upstairs passing my room where Max was still lying still. But I didn't stop, I walked to the next room. Ruby's old bedroom. Everything there looked just the way it did when she was still here. My parents could never change it.
Everything was still the same. And Jack was still placed on her bed where I put it five years ago after I'd sewn it back together.
They almost got me.
---
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