The Noise

There it was again. That noise.

The first time I heard it, I was half-asleep watching Real Housewives. The noise was soft and muffled at first, almost lost in the hum of the fan and the TV. Then there was a bang so loud I jumped and knocked over the bowl of popcorn in my lap. I blinked away sleep and scanned the bedroom. The only thing out of place was the popcorn scattered across my bed. I heard another thump and looked up.

'THUMP, THUMP'

I glared at the ceiling and cursed my upstairs neighbor, hidden from view. Annoyance prickled at the back of my neck. I didn't know what time it was, but the night sky peeking through the curtains told me it was too late for whatever they were doing. I turned up the TV volume and grinned as the noise subsided. It was peaceful again, and I could go back to watching extremely rich women act a fool for my amusement.

The next day, I heard the noise while I was working from home.

Two co-workers had called out. One was sick, and the other had to go to their kid's school. Only the manager and I were working today, so of course, he was being more useless than usual. I chugged down a large amount of coffee while he sent so many messages I could barely keep up.

'Don't forget to send me the invoices.'

'Have you audited those invoices yet?'

'The invoices…?'

'Hey, I just checked. Still no invoices.'

I gritted my teeth, reminding myself I couldn't afford to quit my job or say what I really wanted. So instead, I told him I was almost done reviewing the bills and finished the reply with a stupid smiley face. I finished checking and organizing the invoices and sent them to him with a heavy press of the Enter key. Closing my eyes, I relished the momentary peace. I let the quiet wash over me and help drain some of the tension from my muscles.

A faint sound made me open my eyes and glance at the corner of the living room. On the wall was an array of family photos and a small bookshelf stuffed with books and Funko pops. I traced my gaze over the photos: happy faces frozen in time, my parents, cousins, even the dog we had when I was a kid. Just like last night, everything looked normal, but there was a feeling of uneasiness creeping through me that I couldn't explain.

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

My heart skipped a beat. The noise was now above me in the living room and louder than before. There was a long scrape of something heavy pushing across the floorboards, and the sound felt like nails clawing on my skin. Running a frustrated hand through my hair, I pulled angrily at the loose strands.

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

Fuck it! That's it! I grabbed my cellphone off the desk and scrolled through the contacts until I found the landlord's info. I debated whether I should call. What if the landlord told the neighbor about my complaint, and things got awkward? Worse, what if the noise somehow got even louder out of spite? I imagined running into the neighbor in the hall eventually, that weird tension hanging between us, both of us pretending not to know why.

Maybe I was being dramatic. Still, my rent was too high to live like this. I wasn't asking for much. Just for whoever lived upstairs to sit the fuck down and not trample over the floor like a thousand-pound elephant.

I considered ignoring it for another night. But the banging echoed in my head, vibrating under my skin, making it impossible to focus on anything else. Before I could talk myself out of it, I pressed the button on the screen. It rang a few times before the voicemail picked up. It was one of those automatic voicemails that only said a few words before beeping and putting you on the spot. I barely had time to think about what I wanted to say.

"Uh, hello. This is Kay from apartment 203. Everything is fine with the apartment…" I thought about leaving it there, but realized it wouldn't make much sense to call the landlord just to tell them I didn't have a problem. "Actually, I'm calling about the apartment upstairs. Last night, the occupant was making a lot of banging noises. I also heard the same noises a few minutes ago, but they sounded much louder. Would it be possible to speak with them about that? I'd really appreciate it. Thank you."

As soon as I hung up, I felt relief mixed with a tinge of anxiety. My hand trembled a little as I set the phone down, and I sat back at my desk, taking a long sip of cold coffee. I tried to focus on my work, clicking through emails and forcing myself to input data onto a spreadsheet or two, but I kept glancing at the phone, half-expecting it to ring—maybe the landlord, maybe my mom or sister. Each time the screen lit up, my nerves buzzed, but it was just an app notification.

Thankful that I hadn't received any new messages from my manager (at least for now), I told myself I could finally relax.

For a few blissful hours, I was even naive enough to think that was the end of my troubles.

On the third day, I heard the noise in the bathroom.

I was in the shower washing off the stink of a long day. My body was drained, and I was so tired I barely had enough energy to turn on the water. Before going into the bathroom, I checked my phone for a message from the landlord, but all I saw were a few texts from my mom checking in on me, accompanied by Instagram links to random videos from my sister.

My sister barely texted actual messages, but she was the queen of video links. Because of her, I had seen everything from cat butt surgery to someone throwing a lavish wedding for their garden gnomes in Arkansas. I usually rolled my eyes at the videos she sent, but today I was happy for the distraction.

Getting out of the shower and drying off, I put on some pajamas and attempted to rangle my messy hair into a bun. I was going to enjoy the rest of Real Housewives before passing out. It was going to be a chill, cozy Friday night. I repeated it in my mind as if manifesting it into reality.

Everything I had planned that night went up in smoke when I heard a loud banging across the ceiling and through the walls. It was so loud it made the sink rattle, and the vibrations traveled through the floor into my bones. The noise wouldn't stop. It grew louder and louder. The vibrations felt like earthquakes shaking the entire bathroom. At any minute, the floor was going to open up and swallow me whole.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

I ran out of the bathroom and towards the front door. Anger took over my thoughts and actions. I barely remembered leaving the apartment and going up the stairwell to the next floor. One second, I was in the bathroom; the next, I was in front of apartment 303.

Everything looked identical to the floor I lived on, including the large window that overlooked the street. The apartment door was painted a dark gray with shiny silver numbers and a silver peephole. It blended in with the hallway's dull gray walls and carpeted floor.

It took every ounce of self-control I had not to bang on the door and strangle the first person who opened it. Instead, I pressed my ear to the door expecting to hear the same noise I heard in my apartment, but the other side was quiet. I couldn't hear voices or a sign that anyone was even at home.

My hand instinctively went for the door handle and, against my better judgment, turned it. When it didn't open, I felt slightly relieved that I wouldn't be charged with breaking and entering. I backed away slightly, let out a deep breath, and knocked on the door. I waited, but it remained closed. I didn't hear footsteps on the other side, or the hushed tones of someone pretending they weren't home. It was dead silent.

I knocked a few more times, but the door remained closed. The anger I felt earlier was replaced by a deep dread that settled like a boulder in the pit of my stomach. I stepped back from the door and went back down the stairs. Back in my apartment, I sat down on the couch and saw my phone screen light up on the coffee table. The one missed call notification blared up at me.

I reached for the phone and unlocked it to see that my landlord had called two minutes ago. I immediately called the number back. It rang a few times before my landlord picked up.

"Hello, this is John."

"Hey John, this is Kay from apartment 203."

"Oh, hey! I called earlier, but you didn't answer. I figured you might be out enjoying this nice summer weather!"

I glanced up at the ceiling anxiously. "Sorry about that. I was…in the bathroom. I called you before about the noise upstairs. It's been really bad, especially tonight."

"Yeah, about that. I gotta admit I was a little confused. I thought I'd misheard you at first. You mentioned hearing noises coming from apartment 303, but that's not possible."

"Why not? There's been a lot of noise coming from upstairs for the past few days."

"Well, that's the thing. I don't know how that's possible. Apartment 303 has been empty for over a year."

"What?" I whispered, my head spinning.

"I've been trying to rent out the apartment, but haven't had any luck. The last tenet in there was a drunk and had a few screws loose." John laughed. "Said he heard stuff in the walls. He was behind on his rent anyway, so we evicted him."

I didn't know what to say. My mouth opened, but the words wouldn't come out. My mind kept replacing what John had just said. Apartment 303 had been empty for over a year.

"But I…I heard noises. Banging and scraping. Just tonight in the bathroom—"

"Maybe the noise was coming from outside. The building is close to downtown, so the area gets a lot of traffic around this time."

The noises were coming from upstairs; they had to be. I've heard it three times already. Each night they grew louder and heavier. I tried to remember if I'd ever seen the neighbor upstairs, but since I moved in six months ago, I couldn't remember ever hearing anything until recently. I frantically looked around the apartment. It was as if I was seeing the place for the first time. Everything looked both familiar and foreign. My heart was a hammer against my chest as I stood up and cautiously walked towards the front door. I had to leave. I wasn't sure where I was going, but I had to get the hell out of this house.

"Hello? Kay, are you still there?"

I gripped the knob, but it wouldn't turn. I pulled at it with all my strength, not giving a damn if I broke it, but the door wouldn't open. I choked back a sob and slunk down to the floor.

"I can't get out." I heaved through shallow breaths. "I can't get out!"

"Kay? Hello? I can't hear you. I think you're breaking up."

I dropped the phone and rushed to the window. On that side of the building was grass and bushes. I could survive the fall if I made sure to hit one of the bushes. Turning the latch, I tried to push it up, but, like the door, the window wouldn't budge. Fear consumed every part of me. My body shook, and my head felt like it was about to explode. This couldn't be real! What the hell was happening?

There it was again. That noise.

This was the fourth time I heard it, and now it was everywhere.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

I covered my ears, but that didn't help. The loud scrapes and thumping noises were drowning me and pulling me into the abyss.

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I yelled, pulling at my ears so hard they started to go numb.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

'THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP'

In the wall next to the bathroom, large cracks began to form. A sharp, metallic smell permeated the air as the steel beams inside the walls began to melt and crumble. I went back to the door and pounded on it desperately. Begging for anyone on the other side to help me. The cracks splintered down to the floor. I could only stare in frozen shock and horror as a burnt, bony arm emerged from the wall. The crack opened wider, and another arm emerged. The flesh on the arms was so burnt it was as if they had been charred on a grill.

Its fingernails were long and sharp. Then, the thing pulled its head out of the crack. The face, like the arm, was completely charred. Where its eyes should have been were empty eye-sockets.

A sound came out of my mouth, but it took a second for me to realize it was a scream as the horrid thing in the wall reached its bony hands towards me.

It struggled to break free, and as it shook, the cracks in the walls grew larger. With one final violent shake, the creature broke from the wall and hurtled towards me. Before I could let out another scream, everything around me grew dark, and apartment 203 became silent.