The Thing Upstairs
The house goes completely still.
Not quiet.
Still.
Like even the air is listening.
Another creak echoes from upstairs.
Slow.
Deliberate.
A single footstep.
Mara backs toward Elena instinctively.
"Elena…"
"I heard it."
Elena's voice is barely audible.
The television remains black.
But Elena can still see her own reflection in the screen.
And for a split second—
she thinks something moves behind them.
She turns sharply.
Nothing.
Just the hallway.
Dark and empty.
A third step sounds above them.
Closer to the stairs now.
Wood groans softly under the weight.
Not fast.
Not hiding.
Whatever is upstairs wants them to hear it.
Mara grabs Elena's wrist.
Her hand is freezing cold.
"We need to leave."
Elena nods immediately.
For once, neither of them argues.
They move toward the front door carefully.
Too carefully.
Every tiny sound feels enormous now.
Their breathing.
Their footsteps.
The soft buzz of the porch light outside.
Elena reaches for the lock—
A loud thud shakes the ceiling above them.
Mara gasps.
Dust drifts down from overhead.
Then—
Silence again.
Elena's fingers fumble against the lock.
"Come on…"
It won't turn.
"What?"
"It's stuck."
Mara pushes past her and grabs the handle herself.
Jiggles it violently.
Nothing.
The door doesn't move.
Not even a little.
"No, no, no—"
Another sound interrupts her.
A wet dragging noise.
Directly above them.
Moving slowly across the second floor.
Mara goes rigid.
Elena feels it too.
That awful instinct crawling up the spine—
the certainty that something is directly over your head.
Listening.
The dragging stops.
Then—
A soft knock comes from upstairs.
Three slow taps.
Mara's breathing breaks apart.
"Elena…"
Another knock.
Same rhythm.
Three taps.
Elena's stomach drops suddenly.
Because she knows that rhythm.
She knows it.
Rain lashes against a car window.
Mud everywhere.
Dark trees swaying violently in the storm.
Mara crying in the distance.
And somewhere in the woods—
three slow knocks.
Elena stumbles backward, nearly losing balance.
The memory hits so fast it makes her nauseous.
Mara notices instantly.
"What is it? What's wrong?"
Elena can barely speak.
"That sound…"
Another knock interrupts her.
Louder this time.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
The ceiling light flickers.
For one horrible second—
the upstairs hallway light turns on by itself.
Both girls stare upward.
Frozen.
A shadow passes slowly across the light.
Too large.
Bent wrong.
Its limbs move with an uneven twitch, like it's learning how to walk.
The light shuts off again.
Darkness slams back into place.
Mara makes a small, terrified sound.
Not even a scream.
Worse.
Then—
Footsteps.
Fast now.
Rushing toward the stairs.
Elena grabs Mara's hand.
"RUN."