Knock, Knock

Knock, knock, knock.

Rebel’s head twisted away from the show she had started toward the front door. Her eyes went wide, and her hair on her neck had jolted up as she tried to grapple with what had just happened.

Then her eyes rose to the ceiling. On the other side, the kids had just gone to sleep, and she worried more about them waking up than whoever had knocked.

Rebel paused the show and waited. She wasn’t sure if the knock would ring again or if the kids would stir. She grabbed the monitor and looked at the split screen that showed Anka still asleep, her foot hanging off the side of the bed, and Emma asleep in her crib.

With the confirmation that both of them still slumbered, she stood up and headed to the door. She decided she couldn’t wait for the knocking to come again, since it might wake the girls. She checked the time on the oven, thinking, Who in their right mind would knock on a door this late at night?

She couldn’t come up with a good answer. Nothing in her imagination could fathom who or what would be at that door. Only her parents and her friends knew she had gone to babysit. So, the person couldn’t be for her. The girls’ parents wouldn’t be home for hours, plus they had a key to the house.

She froze in place, wondering if she should just ignore it. They hadn’t knocked again, the kids were sleeping, she could just move back to the couch and return to her show.

Knock, knock, knock

Each knock pounded deliberately. Rebel’s body tightened. The plastic monitor creaked in her hands as she realized she had squeezed it stooo tightly.

Luckily, the kids continued to slumber.

“I’m coming!” she whispered, picking up her pace through the unfamiliar house. Despite her steps quickening, her instinct urged her not to open the door.

As she approached the door, she froze again. She didn’t want the knock to come again, but she didn’t want to lose the safety of the door either. Once she opened it, anything could be out there.

Knock, knock, knock,

The knocking came again. Rebel checked the monitor one more time, ensuring the kids were still asleep. Whoever was at the door wasn't leaving.

“Who’s there?” she asked.

She leaned to the side of the door to peer out the window, hoping to spot the visitor before opening the door. She made sure to move slowly and stay hidden, so whoever was outside wouldn’t easily see her.

Rebel blinked a few times as she took in the elderly lady on the porch. The woman stood as straight as she could, but gravity had a different idea, as her shoulders hunched down toward the ground. Her hair had long ago greyed and looked like it was grasping on to the last few strands that it could. Still, every hair looked perfectly placed. The woman’s eyes looked kind, despite the years of crow's feet retreating from them.

Rebel breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. She had worked herself up so much for nothing. She threw the door open with a little too much gusto.

The old woman staggered backward slightly, nearly stumbling back. Her eyes went wide, tugging at her wrinkles.

Immediately, Rebel’s stomach dropped as she realized she had nearly toppled the poor lady. She stepped out to offer her a hand. The woman’s hands felt icy cold and ethereal, but Rebel chalked it up to old age.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Rebel said.

“No, dear, it’s all okay,” the older lady said as she found her balance. She dropped Rebel’s hand quickly and swiped her own across her sleeves as she dusted off the fact that she almost fell.

Then both women stared at each other. Neither spoke. Rebel grew concerned and confused as she waited.

“Was there something?” she asked, letting the question linger in the air.

The woman blinked at her before saying, “You don’t live here.”

She also let the words hang in the air. Rebel debated what to actually tell her. She didn’t feel safe enough to share the details of what was happening with her. Babysitting 101 after all.

“Is there something you need?” Rebel asked again.

The lady craned her neck to look around Rebel and through the door. Rebel spread her stance and rolled her shoulders back to make herself look larger. Although she still couldn’t imagine this frail woman causing trouble.

“I just came to see my grandchildren,” the woman said. “Where are Anka and Emma?”

Rebel’s eyebrows narrowed towards her nose. She placed herself more in the middle of the door.

“They’re asleep,” Rebel said.

“Of course, of course,” the woman said as she rubbed her hands together, as if washing them without water.

The two stared at each other again, with nothing but suspicion between them.

“Yeah, so I’m going to head back in. I’ll let everyone know you stopped by,” Rebel said, stepping backward into the house as she spoke. She felt it imperative to get the door shut.

The woman stepped forward, matching Rebel’s move.

“Can’t Grammy just wait inside for my daughter? I came all this way, and my ride has already left me,” Grammy said.

Rebel leaned farther out the door and scanned the street for vehicles. She didn't see any car except her own parked nearby. There were no bus stops around.

“Maybe my son-in-law will be able to drive me back to my apartment when he gets back?” Grammy continued.

Something inside Rebel shouted at her not to let the woman in. They had said not to let any strangers in, but no one had told her about a grandmother coming by. Maybe they hadn’t known.

Yet, part of her felt guilty about leaving this little old woman outside. Grammy had known the girls’ names, but did that mean anything?

“I’m sorry, I don’t feel comfortable about that,” Rebel said as she shuffled another step inside the door. Grammy once again inched closer to the threshold as well.

“Of course, dearie,” Grammy said as her shoulders and head dropped. “Can I ask you to order an old lady a car to get home, then?” She seemed to topple in half, as if she were a balloon and half the air had been let out of her.

Rebel felt deflated as well. Instead of closing the door, she leaned against it, unable to take her eyes off the woman.

She told her brain to quiet its alarm. Guilt tugged at her for Grammy, though she couldn’t fathom why someone would visit so late at night.

“How far away do you live?” She asked, wondering if the woman’s mind had slipped slightly. Perhaps she had faced the same challenges her grandmother had faced before her grandmother passed away.

“Oh, it took about an hour or so drive. Normally. Tonight, it took longer. I had tried to get her before the sunset, but as you can see, I missed that.”

Rebel rolled her lips inward and bit them. She reasoned that she could take the frail older woman if it came to that. If the woman told the truth, she had nothing to lose.

“Okay,” Rebel said. She pushed the door open and gestured toward the inside of the house.

“Okay? Are you inviting me in?” Grammy asked.

“I guess so. Come on in.”

Grammy approached the threshold and paused. She inhaled a large breath and then let it out as she crossed into the house. A big smile spread across Grammy’s face, and Rebel thought for a moment that the woman’s eyes had flickered red. Rebel shook her head to get the idea out; she had only imagined it.

As Grammy moved further into the house, Rebel retrieved the monitor, which she had neglected during the entire exchange. While Emma slumbered gently, Anka’s bed looked empty.

Rebel brought the monitor to her face to examine it more closely. Sometimes the kids could be curled up in the bed.

“You let her in? They told you not to let anyone in!” the child-like voice asked from the hallway. Rebel turned. Grammy’s eyes had turned fully red, and her teeth had grown into fangs.

Anka screamed as Grammy began to hiss. Anka attempted to run back up the stairs, but the old lady moved much faster than she had just a moment before.

Rebel grabbed onto the creature's shirt, doing anything she could to protect the children. Grammy turned back toward Rebel, full of hate. She hissed her face before baring her fangs at Rebel.

The woman’s teeth pierced into her neck, and before she knew it, the world turned dark.

She heard Anka scream into the darkness. Rebel tried to lift the monitor to make sure that Anka hadn’t woken up yet. Then, everything fell into total darkness.