Sarah stared at the wall beside her bed.
She had never noticed the faint outline before.
A rectangular shape beneath the wallpaper.
The next morning, she called her friend Daniel, who helped renovate old houses.
They removed part of the wallpaper.
Behind it was a narrow wooden door.
There was no handle.
Daniel stared at it.
“This wasn't on the house plans.”
They broke it open.
Inside was a tiny room.
Dust covered everything.
A child's chair.
A rusted music box.
Dozens of photographs.
And hundreds of handwritten pages.
Most contained the same sentence:
SHE KNOCKS AT 3:17 BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN SHE DIED.
Sarah found the final journal.
It belonged to Margaret Bell's daughter, Anna.
Anna claimed her mother had become obsessed with something inside the house.
She believed someone was living behind the walls.
Every night at 3:17, Margaret heard knocking.
But when she opened the doors, nobody was there.
Then Margaret disappeared.
Anna was only twelve.
She told police her mother had been taken.
Nobody believed her.
Sarah turned the page.
The final entry read:
If the next woman moves into this house, she will hear the knocking too.
Daniel looked at Sarah.
“Maybe you should leave.”
Sarah nodded.
But before they could go, the music box suddenly began playing.
Neither of them had touched it.
A melody filled the room.
Sarah recognized it.
Her grandmother used to hum the same tune when Sarah was a child.
She grabbed the music box.
Underneath it was a photograph.
It showed Margaret Bell standing beside a young girl.
Sarah stared at the girl.
It was her mother.
Sarah's mother had always claimed she'd never visited North Carolina.
Sarah called her immediately.
Her mother answered after several rings.
“Mom, I found something.”
Silence.
Then her mother whispered:
“Get out of that house.”
Sarah's heart pounded.
“Why?”
Another long silence.
“Because Margaret wasn't the first woman to disappear there.”
Sarah looked toward the hidden room.
“Who was?”
Her mother's voice cracked.
“Your great-grandmother.”
The lights suddenly went out.
In the darkness, someone whispered directly behind Sarah:
“You finally remembered me.”
Sarah spun around.
Nobody was there.
Daniel grabbed her arm.
“Sarah, we need to go.”
They ran downstairs.
The front door was open.
But outside, the porch was empty.
Then Sarah noticed something.