Tap



It had been a long day and night working in the library. Finally, at almost three in the morning, my research paper was finished. I stuffed everything into my messenger bag and slung it over my shoulder. I left the library, a beacon of light in the darkness outside.

Streetlights every thirty feet gloomily lit the streets. I was used to it. I would always walk to my dormitory at night. I ignored the darkness after passing a pale streetlight. It had been a strenuous day, and a lot of work had been completed. There would be no essays or papers for me for a while so I would have free time to myself.

I smiled at the thought of free time, until I heard the noise behind me.

There was a skittering noise and I turned around.

Something ran across the street, giving a bone-wrenching laugh. I could only see a silhouette, but it appeared to be a woman. She had long hair, was very tall, and extremely skinny. I froze in fear, before realizing that it was probably a prank of sorts, so I continued on my way, speeding up a bit. I was extremely frightened, but I saw my dormitory in the distance. There was still a skittering noise behind me, and I ran towards my dorm.

Safety. Warmth. Light. As I entered my dorm house, I could only wonder why I was so paranoid out there in the dark. It was no doubt my imagination or a stupid joke played by my friends. Almost everyone was asleep by now, but I waved at a friend near the doorway on his computer. He smiled and waved back.

My room was on the first floor, almost right next to the door. It was a single, something that I have always preferred. I took out the key from the top zipper of my messenger bag and entered the room. I flicked on the lights and settled my bag down.

I didn’t even bother to change and just collapsed onto my bed.

Tap… Tap…

I shrugged off the noise and concentrated on sleeping.

Tap… Tap…

The noise came from the window. I had not pulled the shutters on it before crashing onto my bed.

I turned over and looked at the window.

She smiled a horrifying smile. Her teeth were almost all gone, just filled with bloody stumps. It was almost certainly the same woman. The moon was behind her, so I could not see her clearly, but she had long hair, was extremely skinny, but tall.

Her fingers then tapped the window again.

Tap… Tap…

I was paralyzed in fear, and could not move.

We stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity.

The woman began to scratch the window with her long fingernails.

Scratch… Scratch…

Then I woke up.

I looked at my clock.

It was six in the morning.

I lay there, frozen, not sure of what had just happened three hours earlier.

Was it all a dream?

After lying in bed for almost 30 minutes, I got up and changed into a new set of clothes from my wooden closet. I was shaken to the core because of the events that may or may have not occurred earlier.

Until I saw my window.

There were scratch marks all over the window, stained in blood.

That was when I realized that nothing had been a dream. Everything was real.

The day went by too quickly for me. I dared not say anything about what happened to my friends in fear of being casted out as a lunatic. Before I even realized it, I was back in my dorm, and it was night. I considered going to my friends and asking for a sleepover, but they were out to the latest party.

That night, I prepared myself. I locked the door, and shuttered and locked all of the windows. There was no tapping noise. I was very relieved and thought that maybe I had imagined it all. I sunk under my covers and settled in.

Suddenly, the tapping was heard. But it was not the tapping on my window. It was a deeper tap. The sound of wood, and it came from right across the room.

It was from my closet.

Tap… Tap…

This could not have been happening. I looked towards my closet, completely terrified. The woman could not be in my closet.

Scratch… Scratch…

I could not see much, so I grabbed my flashlight and pressed the button. A bright beam of white light pierced through the darkness of my dorm room. Facing my fears, I ran towards my closet.

The door was slightly open, and without thinking, I flung open the door and pointed my flashlight.

There was no woman. The closet was completely intact and nothing was misplaced. I felt that nothing was out-of-ordinary in my room.

Until I felt two taps on my shoulder.