‘The Knock’ by Vivien Lakatosova, Year 9, Thomas Clarkson Academy

I was walking home from my relatives’ place around ten o’clock. We had spent the day together in town.  I was about 20 minutes from home when all the streetlights suddenly turned off, leaving only the sounds of cars going by and the unexpected howling of the wind. I stopped in my tracks due to the sudden change in my surroundings and stared around for almost 2 minutes, attempting to figure out if anyone was in the darkness.

As I looked around, I saw nothing but empty space. Nothing. I continued moving, and every few minutes, a gust of freezing cold wind passed by, like a ghost was walking by me. I tried to tell myself that it was probably going to rain as soon as I reached home. I finally made it home safely and let out a sigh of relief. I went up to my room and was glancing over the photos of me that my cousin had taken and had just sent to me. I think that I noticed a figure of a man in the background of one of them, just staring at me. Chills ran down my spine, and at that moment there was a strange but hard, uncomfortable knock on my window.

I froze, my eyes darting to the window. The knock came again, more insistent this time. With trembling hands, I inched towards the window, heart pounding. I peeked through the curtain, expecting to see a tree branch or something explainable. But there was nothing.

I backed away, trying to convince myself it was just my imagination. My phone buzzed with another message from my cousin. Reluctantly, I looked back at the photos. The man in the background seemed closer now, his eyes boring into mine through the screen. My breath hitched.

Suddenly, the knocking intensified, becoming a rapid, almost desperate pounding. Fear gripped me. Who or what could it be? Gathering all the courage I had left, I pulled the curtain back completely, revealing a figure standing there. My blood ran cold. It was the same man from the photos, his expression unreadable. He raised his hand, pointing directly at me, his lips moving silently. Panic surged through me. I stumbled back, knocking over a chair. My mind raced, searching for a way to escape or call for help.

The figure didn’t move, but his presence filled the room with an overwhelming sense of dread. This was no ordinary encounter.