Sara, a young woman with wary eyes and a duffel bag slung over her shoulder, steps out of her old pickup truck. She hesitates, surveying the eerily quiet trailer park, its silence broken only by the distant caw of a crow.
"This is just for a few weeks," she whispers, steeling herself as she approaches her assigned trailer.
Sara tosses her bag onto the sagging couch, trying to ignore the strange creaks and groans echoing from the walls. She glances at a faded family photo left by the previous tenant, the faces scratched out. The wind howls, and something unseen taps rhythmically against the window.
"Probably just a branch," she mutters, trying to convince herself.
Sara[/@ch_1] steps outside, startled by the sudden appearance of Mrs. Dorsey, an elderly woman with piercing blue eyes and a weathered robe.]
"You’re new here, aren’t you? Not many stick around long," she rasps, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Just here for work," Sara replies nervously.
"Keep your lights on at night. And if you hear knocking, don’t answer," Mrs. Dorsey warns before shuffling away, leaving only the scent of mothballs behind.
Sara wakes to the unmistakable sound of slow, deliberate knocking—three times—from the door. Heart pounding, she recalls Mrs. Dorsey’s warning. The doorknob rattles, and a wet, childlike voice whispers from outside.
"Let me in. It's so cold out here..."
Sara[/@ch_1] into near-darkness.]
She crawls to the window, peering out into the rain. A small figure stands motionless in the downpour, face obscured by shadow. Suddenly, the power surges back, illuminating muddy footprints leading from the door to the center of the living room.
"This can’t be real," she gasps, grabbing her phone with trembling hands.
Sara[/@ch_1] follows the muddy footprints to a loose floorboard, prying it up to reveal a hidden crawlspace.]
Inside, she finds a tattered child’s shoe and a faded photograph—her own face, circled in red ink. As a cold hand clamps onto her ankle from below, Sara screams, the echoes swallowed by the fog outside, and the trailer door slams shut, sealing her fate.
