Three Minutes to Midnight

There wasn't anything particular about tapping at the window. Vanessa heard it most nights, earlier in the summer. The tapping was from the bare, bony knuckles of the branches outside her childhood bedroom window. The branches were heralds of cooling air.

That night, they tapped at the glass to announce the arrival of an autumnal wind. This marked the long awaited change of the season. The rest of summer had been long, dry, and hot—unseasonably so.

Vanessa’s ears awoke first, to the tapping. They were peaked by a whirling sound, which was fading off into the distance.

She smacked her cotton-like tongue around her gauzy-feeling mouth. Her bedroom hadn’t been spared by the hot, dry air. A rasping grunt from her throat attempted to clear the dryness that had clumped onto her vocal cords.

A peeling blueish light lit up, and sheathed itself between her eyes and her closed lids. Vanessa rubbed those puffy eyes, and sleep crumbled away. Her eyelids were tacky and tried to securely keep her eyelids shut, but Vanessa prevailed.

She looked towards her phone, that laid on the nightstand next to her clock and lamp. A notification read: PARCEL DELIVERED, 02:51 GMT, AIR DRONE DELIVERIES INC. Upon seeing the notification, Vanessa’s tired faced contorted into a puzzled look. It was an odd time for deliveries, and Vanessa hadn't ordered a thing, all summer long.

A barely tangible vocalisations of “Oh" was sighed out. Her face relaxed and nodded a realisation. Vanessa recalled the last postcard she had received from her parents. They were enjoying their holiday and were planning on sending a gift to Vanessa, as a thank you for minding the house, while they have been away.

Neither parent could recall entering into a competition, but both were equally elated to go on a holiday around the world. They had asked Vanessa to housesit for them. Normally, it would have been a tedious chore for Vanessa. She had loved her life in London and was easily bored in the countryside.

But Vanessa's circumstances had changed. Her flatmate had had a bad breakup. It had even ended in a restraining order. Her flatmate left London. Vanessa tried to find a new flatmate, but was uncomfortable with the idea of living with a stranger, after all that had happened between her former flatmate and the ex.

Vanessa’s parents contacted her about their win, and request for her to housesit. She accepted without hesitation.

Vanessa hadn’t heard from her parents in about a month, but was excited to see what was inside the parcel, and desperate for a glass of water.

She continued to smack her parched mouth, while she walking down the hall, over the creaking floorboards, and down the stairs.

On the ground floor, her first stop was the kitchen. She drank her first glass of water in a single breath. Her second time, a breath managed half the glass. She continued to slurp small sips out of the glass, as she made her way to the entrance hall.

Vanessa flicked on the porch light, and opened the front door. The earthy scent of autumn unfurled, up her nose. She felt the moisture in the air, and saw, in the light, the glistening of morning dew, already forming. Vanessa looked down to the ground. She saw the parcel was a cardboard box. It was well sealed in tape, which read: FRAGILE; and repeated over and over.

She scooped it up and cradled it between her arm and her hip. Before closing the door and turning off the light, she examined the top. It was addressed to her. It was in the same shaky penmanship all of her postcards had been in. Her mother had written in the first postcard how she had broken her arm in that first week, so was writing with her other hand.

There was no return address, and Vanessa didn't recognise the stamp. She had no idea where in the world her parents had sent this box from, but was excited to see what was inside.

Tap, tap, tap…

Vanessa walked into her room and immediately heard the tapping. The tapping was now an arrogant reminder that she had not opened the window, and that her room remained hot.

But Vanessa was excited to see what was in the box. She sat on her bed, and placed her glass of water next to her lamp, before turning it on. She slipped her finger underneath the FRAGILE tape, and hooked it into shape. She tugged and tugged until the tape was peeled enough for her to tear open the box.

There was a note taped to the first flap of the cardboard box, as she opened it. It simply read: SEE YOU SOON, LOVE—ALWAYS. It placed a subtle, but genuine smile on Vanessa's face.

Once fully opened, she began to remove and deflate the large, air-filled, plastic pouches that were securing whatever fragile object was inside. As she popped and flattened the pouches, she noticed the dew that was setting outside, had crept its way inside the box already. It was only the top air-filled pouches that were wet with dew. Vanessa dried her hand on her leg, then pyjama top, as she worked her way through the pouches.

Finally, all the air-filled pouches were deflated and removed. Yet, there was nothing else inside the box. Vanessa picked it up, turned it over, and shook it. She flicked through all the deflated pouches. But she couldn’t find any thing else inside the box.

Confused and beginning to perspire from the heat, she shoved the deflated pouches back inside the box, and tossed it on the floor. It landed in front of her open closet, in the corner of the room.

Vanessa’s mouth stretch open when an unannounced yawn barged through. She stood to open the window, then climbed back into bed.

The sheets were wet from wicking her nightly sweat, so she bunched them down to her feet. Cooling air rolled in through the window, and overtop of her. She yawned large, once more, before turning off the lamp.

The bright red lights of her clock read 02:57. She counted the hours of sleep she had had, and the hours remaining, if she were to fall asleep now. While counting down to the minutes, her mind faded blank and she drifted into sleep.

Sudden jerks in her leg jolted her awake a number of times. But it was fleeting. The roaring waves of slumber rolled back over her. She was on the perfect cusp of sleep. It was the kind where one knows a great sleep laid ahead. But it was not to be. She felt a growing discomfort in her feet.

Her eyes opened, and the clock turned to 03:01. Vanessa tried to pull her feet free from the bundled up sheets. Neither feet responded to her commands. As Vanessa became more aware of the growing discomfort, she felt a weight gripping and pushing down on her feet. She tugged once more before looking down to see how they were caught in the sheets.

Nauseating thorns stabbed her insides. Burning hot tears pooled in her eyes and blurred her vision. A short gasp of air was sandpaper on her nervous lungs. Vanessa could see a figure at the foot of the bed, pressing down on her feet.

The moment was out of her control. Her body's reflexes took over. It was for her to sit up and pull herself free. But the moment she had sat up, it dawned. She was face-to-face with the figure. Through the hot tears that blurred her eyes, she saw the glistening of a smile and shadow-hidden arms, lurching forward onto her feet.

A scant taste of vomit tickled her throat, as she instantly swallowed the puke back down. Trembling, she blinked, and held her eyes shut, wishing away the figure. The tears plunged down her cheeks. The salty drops followed the contours of her grimaced face, and curled into the sides of her mouth. 


The expulsion of the tears cleared her vision. She opened her eyes. Disbelief and relief were a taunting reality. There was no one there. The figure was a shadow, and faded back into the wall it belonged to. The shadows of branches, from outside the window, continued their waltz on the wall, as if nothing had happened.

Vanessa swung her arms out in front of her, side-to-side. She reluctantly leaned forward, and checked the floor at the foot of the bed. There was no one there. Vanessa drew in her knees, close to her chest, and consoled herself. She told herself, over and over, that it was just a trick of the light. The full moon gazed into the room. It was bright, but full of shadows. It was just a trick of the light.

Tap, tap, tap…

The tapping at the window startled her. The window had closed either in her few minutes of sleep, or in the fear of the moment. It didn’t matter how it had closed. What mattered is that it had closed. The room was heating up. Vanessa was now clammy not only with sweat of fear, but he sweat of the growing heat.

She feverishly wiped away the tears off her cheeks. She sniffed as she rolled her forearm under her nostrils, clearing away any leaking snot. She spent a small moment focusing on breathing and reassuring herself of her solitude in the bedroom.

Vanessa wiggled her toes. It sent pins and needles tickling up her feet and legs. She rolled her head back in irritation, realising her legs had fallen asleep. This was the likely culprit, tricking her in the night.

Tap, tap, tap…

Vanessa erupted out from her bed. She refused to let a nightmare rule over her. She unhooked the latch and flung the window open. She turned her back to the window and scanned the room. Her closet door was open and clothes hung. The box was still on the floor. Her dresser looked as it should. It was the exact image of how it was. There was no sign of anyone.

Vanessa heard the groaning squeal of a door's hinges. She looked towards her bedroom door. She saw it was open. There was a gnawing and unrealistic voice of fear, shooting its mouth off in the back of her head. The voice was telling her she should lock her door and hide in a corner.

Vanessa swallowed back the anxiety, which was growing in her belly. She marched herself over to the door. She chose to put the troubling thoughts at ease and let yourself rule her own fears. She charged down the hallway and stairs, with a domineering form. Each step she took, she felt her confidence return more and more. She ensured the doors and windows downstairs were locked.

She stopped for a moment when going back up the stairs. She thought she had heard a noise. Her stomach churned and the gnawing voice of fear tried to break through. She stood there, silently, listening to the house. The odd snap and creak that she heard were expected of a house settling to a change in temperate.

As she walked back into her room, and shut and locked her bedroom door, there was a loud shattering bang. Vanessa’s heart climbed into her throat. She turned and saw her lamp was knocked over, but still on her nightstand, while the bedroom window had slammed itself shut in the wind. Vanessa rolled her eyes and scoffed at herself for being startled by the wind.

She crawled back into bed. She stood her lamp up and looked at the clock. The minute just rolled over to 03:02. She looked up towards the window, and its rapid tapping. She decided to not fight the wind and leave the window shut.

Vanessa’s room had cooled sufficiently down. She pulled her still-damp sheets up and lightly covered herself as she rolled to face away from her clock. Vanessa closed her eyes and began negotiating in her mind for sleep.

Tap, tap, tap…

Her cusp of sleep was once more pulled back towards being awake. The tapping had slowed, but was still loud. Uncertain, Vanessa mulled over if she should deign to waken herself up fully, by getting out of bed to open the window.

Tap, tap, tap… Snap...

A loud snapping creak of the floorboards beneath the bed was the deciding factor. Her eyes shot open.

"Don’t be so stupid. The house is settling. There is nothing under the bed.” Vanessa whispered to herself.

Tap, tap, tap…

Then, the tapping fell completely silent. In the heat of her room, there was a chill that crawled up her spine. It was the feeling of being watched by someone unseen. Her sweating turned cold and sickened her stomach.

Vanessa tried to breathe quietly, so that she could hear the room better. But her breaths were rasping-wet from snot building up in her nose. Her skin was pricked with goosebumps, that were wasp-like stings, all over her body. Then, Vanessa felt the sheets on top of her pull away.

The gnawing voice of fear reminded Vanessa that she hadn’t checked under the bed. It reminded her that she had no way of knowing that no one was hiding underneath. She clasped her hand over her mouth as her breathing became panicked and escaped through her clattering jaw and mouth.

The sheets continued to be pulled away. She felt suffocated with fear. The sheet was pulled fully off of her. Vanessa leapt up and turned around to face whomever it was. As she turned, her disbelief burned through her. She couldn't see anyone. She cautiously, with a wide berth, walked around her bed to the other side, where her sheets now sat.

She saw, tangled in her sheets, was her quilt, which normally sat at the foot of the bed. Vanessa had forgotten it was there. She began smothered the voice of fear with logic. The heavy quilt was falling off the bed, and pulled her sheets with it. She was alone.

The room wasn’t as well-lit as before. The moon was clouding over. But there was still enough light to see faintly in the dark. She squatted down to confirm an empty space beneath her bed.

She lifted her sheets and quilt back onto the bed, then chewed on the side of her thumb. Vanessa pulled a face of disgust, as there was a bitter taste of plastic on her fingers.

Tap, tap, tap…

Vanessa’s attentions were drawn back to the window. She walked over to it and looked off into the distance. Her feet began to sting and ache, while she stood there. The tapping grew louder, so she decided still not to open the window. She yawned and stretched her arms as she turned around to head back to the bed.

Squeak…

Tap, tap, tap…

Squeak…

The closet door was slowly closing. Vanessa looked towards it and it was already half shut. There was no draft. There was no reason for it to be closing. Logic battled her voice of fear once more. Having decided on being indomitable, Vanessa slowly walked on her achy feet. She reached the closet and gently pushed the door to close.

Tap, tap, tap…

She pushed, and it was nearly completely shut. But there was resistance near the end.

Tap, tap, tap…

Vanessa convinced herself, it was clothes, which must have fallen. That they were now dragging along the carpeted closet floor.

Tap, tap, tap…

Using her body, she managed to shove the closet door shut, all the way. Her feet were hurting more and more, and were soaking wet with sweat.

Tap, tap, tap…

She looked to the floor, towards her feet. Something wasn’t right. She sat, with her back against the closet door. She pulled one foot up to her, hoping to rub out the pain. Instead, she found a piece of glass. She pulled it free and realised her feet weren’t sweating, but covered in blood. Unsure of where the glass came from, she stood up and limped towards her lamp and turned it on.

Tap, tap, tap…

At her feet, she saw her water glass smashed on the floor. She saw a trail of blood from her feet, along the floor, to the window and closet. Her vision went sideways. She felt a sudden and sharp pain in her mid back and chest. Her shoulder blades seized backwards in pain. The nausea was too much to hold down and a battle to not puke ensued.

Tap, tap, tap…

The lamp began to flicker and fade, until it was off. Alone, and in the dark of her room, Vanessa felt too weak. She turned to try to make it to the light switch by her door—unable to see straight. She barely took three steps, before falling over. She pulled herself to next to her bed, to get her phone from the nightstand.

Tap, tap, tap…

She looked at the clock. It read 03:03 for a second, before flicking to 00:00. After that, Vanessa’s vision fully clouded over fully. She could barely see shapes, and couldn’t make out any keys on her phone to unlock it.

Tap, tap, tap… Bang, bang, bang…

Vanessa looked towards the closet door where the banging came from. Her breathing grew heavy and tight. She heard a rattle of the closet door handle. Then, she saw it swing open. Vanessa tried to scream, but nothing came out. She slumped over to her side. She watched, barely able to form a tear, as something approached her, from out the closet.