The Door by R.H Hood

Halle sat shivering in her bathtub naked, wet, and more scared than she thought was humanly possible. There it was again the unmistakable sound of the doorknob being rattled. Another shiver raced up her spine as she sat paralyzed with fear. Who could it be? Halle’s mind raced, no one had keys to her place. Besides the Super only her friend Karen knew she had moved to San Diego. She was new to California and knew no one. That was the reason why she had decided to pick up and move her entire life her. San Diego was supposed to be a fresh start away from her crazy ex fiancé and his certifiable mother in Little Rock. Three days ago she had packed up everything she could fit in to the hatchback of her barely running Plymouth Horizon and headed as far west as she could go. How could they have found her? Was it even possible? She just got here and this bath was the first moment she had stopped in almost four days.

Her eyes darted to the bottom of the door as a figure blocked the light coming in. Her worst fears were confirmed. She wasn’t hearing things and this was not the work of her tired imagination. Trying to conceal the terror consuming her, Halle steadied the tremble in her voice the best she could, swallowed twice and mustered up the courage to call out, “who’s there”? No response. Stupid she thought ... if I was trying to get into a bathroom in an apartment that I had no business being in would I answer? Better yet she thought maybe they would take a moment to introduce themselves ... “ it is just me the person who is about to kill you”. Halle grabbed the side of the tub and slowly stood as quietly as she could. Still dripping she leaned to her side pulling her robe off the edge of the counter. A low thump against the solid wooden door caused her to jump back as a scream escaped her. Quickly she grabbed her robe and slipped it over her body. The robe clinged to her wet frame but seemed to give her the protection she needed to move closer to the door. Again the thump and rattle against the door.

Halle scoured the bathroom for something... anything that she could use as a weapon. Tweezers in her makeup bag looked like her best option then out of the corner of her eye she spotted her curling iron. The plug was connected to the light switch by door and as she plugged it in the the door rattled again. The door began to vibrate with a sound that could only be described as a moan. The air was abosolutley frigid by the door and Halle’s breath was hanging in front of her. A putrid stench was wafting through the cracks of the old door frame. Whatever was trying to get in was absolutely horrid and for the first time in her life Halle felt like she was in the presence of pure evil. The low guttural moan was too primal to be human or animal. The moans resonated deep in Halle’s bones. It... what ever it was.. was not of our world. Every hair on her body stood erect, every muscle in Halle’s body was insisting she run but she had nowhere to go . Trapped in a windowless bathroom on the fifth floor ... the only way out was going to be through whatever was on the other side of the door.

The light on the curling iron turned green and Halle took it to be as a sign as any to make her move. Armed with a curling iron in one hand and tweezers in the other Halle flung open the door. What her eyes saw on the other side was hell itself. The hallway wall was missing and in its place was a swirling blackness that pulled her and everything around her towards it.

An arctic cold pierced her to the core sending shivers through her bones and rattling her teeth. Objects from the bathroom crashed by her before being lost in the abys before her. The moaning was deafening on this side of the door and the foul stench assaulted her senses. Halle felt the vile from her stomach making its way up her throat as she desperately clung to the handle of the door. Her robe was flapping behind her and her feet were being pulled out from under her. Frantically she let go of the curling iron and tweezers she had been holding and watched them disappear into the dark. Grabbing the belt of her robe, Halle lashed herself to the door handle with it and dangled helplessly on the precipice that separated the two worlds. Looking behind her as she twisted Halle peered into the dark vacuum before her. The void pulled air from her lungs and silenced her screams. Trembling, gasping for air to fill her tiny frame Halle stared deep within the black hole at what could only be the red glowing eyes of the devil.