The Knock at 2:17 — Part II: The One Inside

The first thing Tunde noticed…Was that he could still think.That alone didn’t make sense.Because he couldn’t move.He tried to lift his hand nothing.Tried to speak silence.Tried to breathe…he didn’t need to.That’s when panic truly set in.His vision adjusted slowly, like waking from a deep sleep.But he wasn’t in his room anymore.He was… facing it.From the outside.The hallway light flickered.His apartment door stood slightly open.And there, reflected faintly in the door’s surface…He saw himself.Standing behind it.Inside.“No…” his mind screamed.But no sound followed.Memories rushed back.The knock.The voice.The mirror.The smile.“You took my life…”The words echoed again.But now, he understood.It wasn’t a threat.It was a rule.Tunde wasn’t taken.He was replaced.Something moved inside the apartment.His body not him walked past the door.Calm.Relaxed.Like nothing had happened.Then it stopped.Slowly… it turned its head toward the door.Toward him.Even from outside…Tunde could feel it smiling.“…you’re catching on faster than the last one.”The voice wasn’t spoken aloud.It echoed directly in his mind.Tunde tried to run.But there was nowhere to go.Because wherever he moved…The hallway followed.Endless.Repeating.Door after door after door.All identical.All slightly open.And behind each one…A version of him.Watching.Waiting.Smiling.“You think you’re the first?” the voice whispered.“Every knock… needs an answer.”Tunde’s thoughts spiraled.“How many…?”The doors began to creak open one by one.Creaaaaak…Inside each roomA different life.A different version of him.Some richer.Some broken.Some… not human anymore.“You had choices,” the voice continued.“But curiosity always wins.”SuddenlyA sharp sound echoed through the endless hallway.Knock. Knock. Knock.Tunde froze.No.Not again.The sound came from one specific door.Different from the rest.Darker.Older.“…your turn.”Before he could process itHe was pulled.Dragged toward that door by something unseen.Something inevitable.His hand now visible again lifted on its own.Reaching.Shaking.“Don’t open it…” he begged silently.But his fingers…Turned the handle.The door creaked open.And insideHe saw a room.Familiar.Too familiar.A bed.A fan.A mirror.And someone lying there.Asleep.The clock beside the bed flickered.2:16 a.m.Tunde understood instantly.Horror deeper than fear flooded him.“…no.”Behind himThe voice smiled.Knock. Knock. Knock.The sleeping version of him stirred.Slowly opening his eyes.And Tunde…Now standing outside the door…Whispered helplessly“Don’t answer it…”But the cycle had already begun.2:17 a.m.The knock came again.And somewhere…In another version of reality…Another Tunde…Sat up in bed.

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