Tuesday, February 4, 2025
Year : 2, Issue: 23/strong>
FICTION
by Yaz Uddin Oyan
The rain began at dusk, its cold fingers tracing the cracked panes of the house like an unwelcome visitor. By midnight, the storm had grown wild, wind howling through the trees, rattling the fragile bones of the dwelling. I stood before the door, my hand trembling on the tarnished brass handle.
The door had not been there before. Of this, I was certain.
Behind me, the room was a tomb, heavy with shadows and the stench of neglect. The walls seemed alive, pulsing with a sickly dampness, the faded wallpaper peeling in grotesque curls. I had lingered in this place too long, its silence seeping into my bones like a slow poison. Every corner bore the weight of memory—laughter that turned sour, promises broken before they were spoken aloud.
Yet, the door… it called to me.
The wood was dark, marred with deep, jagged scars that seemed to writhe in the flickering lamplight. It was not a thing of this world. I could feel it—an energy that thrummed beneath my palm, a low vibration that set my teeth on edge.
Behind me, the clock ticked, each second louder than the last, hammering against my skull.
“Go,” the silence seemed to murmur.
I turned the handle.
The door creaked open, its groan like the lament of a dying beast. Beyond was not a hall, nor a road, but a void—a great, yawning chasm of darkness that stretched beyond comprehension. It was neither cold nor warm but carried a weight, pressing against my chest, stealing the breath from my lungs.
The ground beneath me was firm yet unseen, and the air tasted of metal, sharp and bitter. A sound rose in the stillness, low and resonant, a hum that seemed to pierce my very soul. It was neither melody nor voice but something in between, something alive.
I glanced back. The room was as it had been: the chair by the fire, the books stacked haphazardly, the rain tracing sorrowful paths down the window. Yet, it felt so small, so distant, as if it belonged to another life entirely. The door swung shut with a decisive click.
I stood there in the darkness, my heart pounding in my ears. The hum grew louder, wrapping itself around me like a lover’s embrace. My knees buckled, and for a moment, I wanted to turn back, to claw at the door and beg for the comfort of what I’d left behind.
But then I understood.
This was not an escape.
