Prologue
When are we ready to face what's beyond our doors?
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There was only one rule: don’t open the door. It stood at the end of the hallway, heavy with rust. Rust that covered heavy, bitter chains.
Theo rose facing it each morning—weighted and bolted. It breathed heavy breaths, but he dared not ask questions. The first time it surfaced was after a tiff with his brother, a tense conversation with resentful exchanges he regretted.
He never heeded it, until he noticed more chains around it than usual.
Over time, Theo noticed that number grew with each family slight, each unaddressed grudge.
The infernal door groaned nightly and waited uselessly daily. Theo lived with its ominous presence and vowed to find the key to it someday.
He stood in front of it one evening when no one else was at home, wondering what lay beyond.
The door trembled. Something, or someone, was trying to claw it open from the other side.
“The longer you hold,” a voice hissed, “the harder the release.”
Theo’s heart palpitated. With quivering fingers, he unbolted a chain. The door quivered, and darkness flowed profusely from the opening beneath. He straightened his back, feeling its deadweight lift.
But the door? It wouldn’t disappear easily.
It would only do so—chain by chain until he faced the shadows beyond.
About the Creator
Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin
Hi, i am an English Language teacher cum freelance writer with a taste for pets, prose and poetry. When I'm not writing my heart out, I'm playing with my three dogs, Zorra, Cloudy and Snowball.
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