Part 1: Goodbye Locks

Ok so I'm back on the wagon this time, I swear. I've decided the multi-entry stories are what I'm into and I love horror so we're back on that train.


***

Sharon lay awake in bed certain she heard a cockroach. The terrible creatures had been the bane of her existence since moving into this house nearly one year ago—the old Craftsman had been infested long before she lugged her boxes up the front steps. As the day of her departure approached, she’d become increasingly paranoid about the bugs, waking from arthropod-filled nightmares, choking back screams. Now, between Mark’s snores, she listened for their scurrying.


As Sharon shifted her position, Mark, half-asleep, asked, “You locked our door, right?” She had, and tension rippled through her body at the thought of going to check, and, in turn, possibly stepping on a roach. Still, something compelled her and, switching on the bedside lamp, she hopped out of bed and padded towards the front door, flipping switches and lighting her path as she went.


Even without her glasses and with the bright light in the foyer, the locks looked not-quite-right, almost translucent. They continued to fade as she approached until, as Sharon reached the front door, there were no locks at all—the chain and the bolt had disappeared completely. It looked as though someone had sanded or sliced them clean off the door.


Sharon held her breath. It was still dark and she could hear rough, bloody sounds outside but an inner voice whispered mockingly There are no locks anymore—you’re basically outside already. Open the door. She heard Mark turn over in bed, oblivious and vulnerable. Sharon was terrified. Staring at where the locks had been she yelled to Mark, “The locks are gone.”

“What?” he sounded drousy and Sharon was jealous. Maybe if she just went back to bed, she could go back to worrying about the cockroaches, falling asleep soon after, and the locks would have grown back in the passing hours? The miracle of their reappearance struck her as ridiculous despite having watched them vanish without an explanation moments before. She heard Mark get out of bed and walk towards her. Impulsively, she twisted the knob and opened the door. Immediately, she wished she hadn’t.