Carnival: Knock Knock

A female and male couple stumbled through the front door of a cabin. Kissing all over each other, they comment on how great of an idea it was to steal her dad’s keys. They justify it by saying her dad hasn’t done anything with the place for years and how he was trying to get other family members to take the property from him. As the male kissed along her neck, asking why wouldn’t anyone want to live there. She said she didn’t understand why. In between breaths, they complimented the cabin while comparing it to each other. The smooth surface of the floor, the crystal decorations being very clean, the animal fur rug being well maintained, the wood being strong. As they began to undress, there were two knocks at the door. Annoyed, the male went over to see who it was.

“Hello?”

No answer.

“We’re not interested.”

No answer.

Figuring the person had left, the male turned around to get back to his girlfriend. Just as they started making out again, there were two knocks at the door. They looked at the door. Knock knock. She told him to just ignore it. They went back to making out. Knock knock. He began to take off her shirt. Knock knock. He lifted her to be on his lap. Knock knock. She looked over and saw the doorknob moving. She jumped up and ran upstairs screaming. He got up, asking why she ran. She expressed concern for being watched from the window. He looked over and saw nothing. He tried to tell her that but she refused to go back downstairs at the moment. He cursed at the door and blamed it for ruining the moment. Knock. Knock. Feeling like someone was staring at him through the door, he slowly put on clothes and made his way over to the door. Knock. Knock. He reached for the doorknob. His girlfriend’s phone started ringing. Slightly startled, he jumped. He saw it was her dad calling. Everything went quiet. He put her phone on silent. The knocking stopped. There wasn’t even a wind. He went upstairs in an attempt to continue what they started.

He saw that she was already in the shower. Thinking it was a great time and place, he got naked and went to join her. Her phone was going off. Something he noticed in the corner of his eye. Her dad was calling again. His phone started ringing. Looking at it for a moment, he saw it was her mother. He put it on vibrate and went into the bathroom. Throwing his phone on the bed next to her phone. He walked in slowly. The bedroom door creaked open.

He joined her in the shower. They talked about what they were going to do in the morning. Talking about all the signs for attractions and shops, they could not understand why no one wanted to come there. She commented how her dad’s family never talks about the cabin. He asked if she’s ever been to the cabin. She made it clear this was her first time. He joked about how she will have two firsts tonight. She rolled her eyes. He nibbled the back of her neck. She playfully told him to behave. He chuckled as he continued and held her close. For a second she thought she saw the bathroom door opening. She hid behind him and told him she thought she saw someone. He told her that it was her imagination. Reminding her that there were no houses in eyeshot of the cabin. He put his hand along the small of her back. She put her arms around his neck and asked him if he would protect her no matter what. He said, “Of course.” Knock knock.

Completely done with this game, the boyfriend rushed to the front door. The girlfriend went to the bed and saw only her phone. She saw her dad was calling. She rolled her eyes and answered it.

“I know what you're going to say dad but…”

“Are you inside the cabin?”

“What?”

“Are you in the damn cabin?!” her dad screamed.

“Well yeah. Of course.”

“Fuck!” it could be heard that he was banging his fists against something with the phone in his hand. “Stay inside. Don’t go outside. Don’t call out to the door. And most importantly, I can’t stress this enough, do NOT answer the door!”

“You’re scaring me dad…”

“Please. For once listen to me and just stay put. I’m coming to get you.”

“What’s the big deal? It’s really nice here.”

“That’s exactly what it wants you to think!”

The boyfriend put on a robe as he approached the door. Knock knock. He looked out the window, no signs of any life anywhere. Knock knock. He didn’t see any cars. Knock knock.

“ ‘It’ as in ‘the cabin’?”

“Yes.”

“Dad, come on. It’s an inanimate object.”

“I know it’s hard to believe but trust me when I say to not answer the door. Especially not the front door.”

“Why?... is there a killer in the area? Is the house haunted?”

“You don’t believe me without the details! You will not understand if I explain. Please…”

“But..”

“Are you there alone?”

“...”

“Goddammit, we don’t have time for these games! You are in danger! You won’t get grounded! Are. You. Alone?”

No one was visible to the boyfriend. Knock knock. The boyfriend looked through the peephole. He saw nothing but he felt the door move. Knock. Knock. He jumped back, startled. “Who’s there?” The doorknob slowly turned. The boyfriend grabbed the knob and held the door closed.

“Is he downstairs right now?”

“No?”

“Why does that sound like a question?”

“You’re just gonna be mad because you don’t approve of our relationship.”

“Have you been listening to a word I said?! Tell him to come into the room, stay together, don’t leave each other’s sight, and don’t verbally respond to any knocking in sets of two.”

“... How did you know it was in sets of two?... Daddy?...”

The boyfriend felt the door fighting back. Pulling him so it can open. He struggled to keep his ground. He opened his eyes to see the shadow of a tentacle peering through the doorway. It swayed over his hands. Despite it being a shadow, he could feel his hands getting wetter. He struggled to keep his grip. He fell forward. The door swung open. The boyfriend looked up from the floor and let out a scream. The girlfriend and her dad heard the scream. Her dad yelled for her to stay where she was and that her boyfriend is a goner. She hesitated for a moment. The boyfriend cried out for help. She ran out the bedroom, dropping the phone along the way. Her dad yelled for her to not go. He was clearly crying as he begged her to come back.

The girlfriend slowly walked down the steps. Everything looked different. Everything from the furniture to the type of wood used for the cabin was different. The only thing that remained the same was the front door. Knock knock. She looked to the front door. She called out to her boyfriend. Knock knock.

“This isn’t funny.”

Knock knock.

“This better be a bad joke.”

Knock knock.

“Please….”

Knock. Knock.

She reached for the doorknob but stopped. Knock. She perked up, “Daddy?!” she grabbed the doorknob. Knock. She opened the door.

Her dad drove up and ran to the parked car. It was his daughter’s. He ran to the door. “You son of a bitch! Did you take her?! Did you take my baby girl?! Why won’t you leave my family alone?! Why only my family?! My grandfather! My dad and his little brother! My oldest sister! Now my baby girl?! Why?! What did we ever do to you?!” The door opened to show that the interior looked exactly like it did from when he was a child. From the night he lost his older sister. He dropped to his knees, crying. Inside, where the kitchen should have been, there was a back porch. A young version of his great grandmother was sitting telling him how dangerous the outside world was. How they should always fear it. Not just because there are things out there that they don’t know about but also because of the stuff they do know about that could hurt them. His great grandmother stood up and talked about how the worst things in life aren’t the things you fail at but the things you never see coming. She turned around and turned into his daughter. He stood up and called out to her. The door shut. His daughter only saw an arm trying to get in the cabin. She slammed it repeatedly, crying for it to go away. She fell to the ground crying. Her father dropped on the porch crying out for her. She curled into a ball, telling the door to stop taunting her.