CHAPTER 2: The Man Outside the Door
I didn’t move.
Not at first.
I had twenty children in my classroom.
Twenty small lives who trusted me to keep them safe.
And something was standing outside the door watching all of them.
I forced my voice to stay steady.
“Class,” I said, “quiet game. Under your desks. No talking.”
They hesitated, confused, but obeyed.
Chairs scraped softly. Little shoes shuffled. The room transformed into silence broken only by nervous breathing.
I walked toward the door.
The shadow didn’t move.
It was tall. Too tall for the narrow hallway outside an elementary classroom. The fluorescent hallway light behind it flickered weakly, as if refusing to stay on.
The intercom hissed again.
Still nothing but breathing.
I slid the deadbolt.
Click.
A sound too small to feel powerful… but it was the only thing separating us from whatever stood outside.
The moment the lock engaged, the handle turned.
Slowly.
Confidently.
Like whoever was out there expected it.
“Leo,” I whispered without turning. “Is that him?”
Leo nodded once.
His entire body shaking.
The handle turned again—harder this time.
The door held.
For now.
Then came a knock.
Three taps.
Perfectly spaced.
Not urgent.
Not angry.
Patient.
One of the kids whispered under a desk, “Miss… who is that?”
I didn’t answer.
Because I didn’t know what the truth would do to them.
The hallway lights flickered again.
Then went out completely.
May you like
And suddenly, the shadow was no longer just behind the glass.
It was pressed against it.
