The Room That Wasn't There

 At exactly 2:13 every morning, someone knocked on Maya's bedroom door.

Three knocks.

**Knock. Knock. Knock.**

The first night, Maya thought it was her little brother playing a prank.

The second night, she ignored it.

But on the third night, the knocking was followed by a whisper.

“Maya…”

She froze.

The voice sounded exactly like her own.

She pulled the blanket over her head and waited.

Nothing.

The next morning, Maya told her mother.

Her mother went pale.

“What did you say the time was?”

“2:13.”

Her mother stared at her.

“That can't be.”

“Why?”

“Because this house doesn't have a room opposite yours.”

Maya laughed nervously. “What do you mean?”

Her mother took her upstairs.

Across from Maya's bedroom was a blank wall.

No door.

No room.

Nothing.

But that night, at 2:13, the knocking returned.

**Knock. Knock. Knock.**

Maya slowly opened her bedroom door.

The hallway was dark.

And there, directly opposite her bedroom, was a door.

An old wooden door that had never been there before.

Maya stepped closer.

A small piece of paper was pinned to it.

Her name was written on it.

**MAYA — DO NOT OPEN.**

She stepped backward.

Then the door handle began to turn.

Slowly.

Maya couldn't move.

The door opened just a few centimetres.

Inside was another hallway.

But the strangest thing was what she saw at the end.

A mirror.

And standing in front of it…

was Maya.

The other Maya looked frightened.

She raised one finger to her lips.

Then she pointed behind Maya.

Maya turned around.

Nothing.

When she looked back at the doorway, the other Maya was gone.

The door slammed shut.

The next morning, there was no door.

Only the blank wall.

Maya tried to convince herself it had been a nightmare.

Until she found something underneath her pillow.

A small piece of paper.

Her handwriting was on it.

**“Tonight, don't answer when I knock.”**

That night, Maya stayed awake.

2:12.

2:13.

**Knock. Knock. Knock.**

She held her breath.

Then came the whisper.

“Maya…”

She didn't answer.

The whisper became louder.

"Maya, please open the door.”

She remained silent.

Then the voice changed.

It sounded like her mother.

“Maya, sweetheart, open the door.”

Maya knew her mother was downstairs.

She still didn't answer.

Finally, the voice became her own again.

“You're learning.”

The knocking stopped.

For several minutes, everything was silent.

Then Maya heard footsteps walking away.

She slowly looked beneath her bedroom door.

A shadow passed across the hallway.

But it wasn't walking away.

It was walking **toward her bedroom window**.

Maya looked at the window.

Her reflection was standing there.

Except Maya wasn't standing.

Her reflection smiled.

And slowly raised three fingers.

**Three knocks.**

**Two nights left.**

Maya finally understood.

The room wasn't trying to get inside.

It was trying to get **her** inside.

And at 2:13 the following night…

the knocking came from inside her bedroom.

**Knock. Knock. Knock.**

Maya turned around.

There was a door in the middle of her room.

And this time, it was already open.

Behind it stood the other Maya.

She whispered:

“Run.”

Maya didn't ask why.

She ran.

Because behind the other Maya, something was slowly stepping out of the darkness.

Something wearing Maya's face.

**The End.**