WHERE THE DEAD WHISPER

Chapter One: The Night Mother Left

The night my mother disappeared, the wind howled, clawing at our hut.

I was ten, lying beside my sister, Amaka, when I heard it—scratching at the window.

Through the cracked walls, my parents’ voices slithered into the dark.
“You promised,” Mama’s voice trembled.
A pause. Then Papa’s reply, low and jagged. “You knew the price.”

Footsteps. A door creaked. Mama was leaving.

She paused at our doorway. “Chigozie?” My voice was small.

She bent, pressing a cold kiss to my forehead. “No matter what you hear,” she whispered, “don’t open the door.”

Then she stepped into the night.

That was the last time I saw her alive.

Chapter Two: The Thing in the Corner

I didn’t sleep. Neither did Amaka.

Then we heard it.

“Chigozie… open the door…”

Mama’s voice. But wrong. Warped.

Then came the scratching. Not from the window. Inside the room.

Amaka and I turned.

The wardrobe. Shut tight.

Then—

A shadow uncoiled. Tall. Unnaturally thin.

A whisper: “Let me in.”

I yanked the blanket over Amaka.

The scratching continued. The whispering.

Until morning.

Chapter Three: The Mark

When I woke, Papa was gone.

And so was Amaka.

I screamed her name.

Then I saw it.

Carved into the floor. A spiral… of teeth.

Embedded. Real.

The whisper returned.

“Chigozie… open the door…”

But the door was already open.

And something was waiting.

Chapter Four: The Hollow Man

He stood in the doorway.

Tall. Skin stretched too tight.

Eyes—black pits. Hungry. Endless.

He smiled. Not with teeth. With tiny, writhing fingers.

“You were supposed to come with them,” he whispered.

I pressed against the wall. “Where is my sister?”

A dry chuckle.

“Gone. But you can still hear her, can’t you?”

I did.

Somewhere in the wind—Amaka’s voice, calling for me.

I ran.

Chapter Five: The House of Echoes

The village was awake.

No one saw me.

Or worse—they did and didn’t care.

I ran to Nna Ogbom, the village elder.

He was waiting.

“You’ve seen it,” he said.

Tears burned my face. “It took them.”

He sighed. “Your father made a bargain.”

I froze.

“Long ago, he asked for wealth. But spirits do not grant gifts without a price.”

I thought of Mama’s last words.

Don’t open the door.

The horror settled over me.

I had opened the door.

Chapter Six: The Spiral of Teeth

That night, the whispers returned.

I traced the teeth with trembling fingers. It pulsed.

A sharp pain.

Visions.

Mama, running. Amaka, crying. Papa, standing before a dark figure.

Then—

A face.

No eyes. No mouth. Just smooth, blank skin.

“You belong to me now,” it whispered.

I screamed.

Then—silence.

Chapter Seven: The Price of Blood

I don’t know how long I lay there.

When I woke, the house was gone.

I stepped outside.

Nothing.

The village had never been there.

A vast, endless field of blackened grass.

In the distance, they hung from a gnarled tree.

Mama. Amaka. Papa.

Mouths open in silent screams.

A shadow moved beside me. The Hollow Man.

“You can join them,” he whispered. “Or you can serve.”

Tears streamed down my face.

I looked at my family.

Then I turned to him.

And nodded.

Epilogue: The Whispering Door

They say the wind howls at night.

They say if you listen closely, you’ll hear voices calling your name.

And if you ever hear a knock at midnight—

Don’t open the door.

No matter what you hear.

Because it’s me.

Waiting.

For you.

The End.

© Glory Kinigoma