The Secret Wall - S01 E02

Story 4 months ago

The Secret Wall - S01 E02

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 2

Episode 2: The Secret Wall

The next morning, the sun was very big and very bright. It was a beautiful day outside. The sky was a clear blue color, like a clean pool of water. The birds were sitting on the trees and singing their happy songs. The neighborhood was busy with people going to work and children getting ready for school. From the window, everything looked like a normal day. But inside the house, Amina did not feel happy at all. She felt like she was still trapped in a dark and scary dream. She felt like the night had not really ended. She felt like a heavy shadow was hanging over her heart.

Amina walked into the kitchen. Her legs felt a little bit weak. She had not slept well after what she saw at three o’clock in the morning. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Joe’s face. She saw his head pressed against the wall. She saw those glowing red eyes. She kept hearing that strange whispering sound in her mind. It was a sound that made her skin crawl. She tried to tell herself that maybe she was just tired. Maybe she had imagined the whole thing. Maybe Joe was just walking in his sleep. But she knew deep down that it was real.

Joe was already sitting at the small wooden table in the kitchen. He was wearing his work clothes. He looked very neat and very clean. He was holding a blue cup and drinking his tea. He looked like the same Joe she saw every single morning. He did not look like a man who talks to walls in the middle of the night. He looked like a normal man who was ready to start his day.

Good morning, Amina, Joe said. He looked up from his cup and smiled at her.

Amina looked at his face very closely. She looked at his eyes. They were brown again. They were not red. They were not glowing. They looked like the eyes of the man she had married five years ago. But when he smiled, Amina felt a cold feeling in her stomach. The smile was on his lips, but it was not in his eyes. His eyes were cold and empty. It was like he was wearing a mask. It was like he was pretending to be happy, but he was really thinking about something else.

Good morning, Joe, Amina said. Her voice was very small. She went to the counter and started to make her own tea. Her hands were shaking just a little bit. She tried to hide it. She picked up the kettle and poured the hot water. She watched the steam rise into the air. She wanted to say something. she wanted to ask him what happened last night. But she was afraid. She was afraid of what he might say.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. The only sound was the clink of the spoons against the cups. It was a very uncomfortable silence. Usually, they talked about their plans for the day. They talked about what they would eat for dinner. But today, nobody wanted to speak first. Amina felt like the air in the room was very thick. It was hard to breathe.

Finally, Amina took a very deep breath. She put her cup down on the table. She looked Joe right in the eyes. She knew she had to ask. She could not live with this secret inside her.

Joe, she said.

Yes, Amina? Joe replied. He took another sip of his tea. He did not look at her this time. He was looking at the wall behind her.

I woke up last night, Amina said. Her heart started to beat very fast. It was like a little bird trapped in a cage. I went to the living room because I heard a sound. I saw you standing by the wall. Who were you talking to at midnight?

As soon as she said those words, the room went very, very quiet. It was a different kind of quiet. It was the kind of quiet that comes before a big storm. Joe did not move. He did not say anything for a long time. He just sat there with his cup in his hand. Amina could see the muscles in his neck getting tight.

Suddenly, Joe’s face changed. The fake smile was gone. It happened so fast that Amina almost jumped back. His face became very dark and very angry. His eyebrows came together, and his mouth became a thin, hard line. He looked like a completely different person.

Joe slammed his cup down on the table. The tea splashed out and made a mess on the wood. The sound of the cup hitting the table was as loud as a gunshot.

Amina flinched. She felt her heart jump into her throat.

I was praying! Joe shouted. His voice was very loud. It was so loud that the windows seemed to shake. Why are you following me around? Why are you acting like a spy in your own house?

Amina was shocked. Joe had never shouted at her like this. He was usually a very calm man. He was a man who loved peace. But now, he looked like he wanted to break something. His eyes were wide and full of rage.

I was not spying, Joe, Amina said. Her voice was trembling. I was just worried about you. You were acting so strange. You were talking to the bricks. I just wanted to know if you were okay.

Mind your own business! Joe yelled again. He stood up so fast that his chair fell over backward. It hit the floor with a loud thud. If I want to pray in the middle of the night, that is between me and God. You should stay in bed and mind your own business. Do not ever follow me again. Do you understand? Stop acting like a spy!

Amina felt a big lump in her throat. She felt like she wanted to cry, but the tears would not come. She was too scared to cry. She looked at Joe and saw a stranger. She saw a man who was hiding something very big and very dark. She knew Joe was a religious man. He went to church. He read his Bible. But he had never acted this way about prayer before. Prayer was supposed to make you feel peaceful and kind. It was not supposed to make you scream at your wife and slam things on the table.

Joe did not wait for her to say anything else. He grabbed his bag from the counter. He walked toward the door with very big, angry steps. He did not look back. He did not give her a kiss. He did not even say goodbye. He just walked out and slammed the front door shut. The whole house seemed to moan from the force of the door closing.

Amina sat all alone in the kitchen. She was very still. She listened to the sound of Joe’s car driving away. When the sound was gone, the house became very, very quiet again. But it was not a good quiet. It was a scary quiet. It felt like the walls were listening to her. It felt like the house itself was waiting for something to happen.

She looked at the mess on the table. The spilled tea was brown and sticky. She took a cloth and started to wipe it up. She did it very slowly. Her mind was full of questions. Why did a prayer make him so angry? What kind of prayer requires you to press your head against a brick wall? And why did his eyes look red last night? None of it made sense. She felt a cold shiver run down her back again.

Amina walked out of the kitchen and into the living room. She stood in the middle of the carpet and looked at the big wall. In the bright morning light, the wall looked very normal. It was just red bricks and gray mortar. There were no ghosts. There were no monsters. It was just a wall. But Amina could not stop thinking about what Joe was doing there.

She felt a very strange urge. It was like a little voice in her head telling her to go closer. She wanted to touch the bricks. She wanted to see if they felt different. She wanted to know if there was a secret door or a hidden space behind them. Maybe there was something inside the wall that was changing Joe. Maybe the wall was a door to somewhere else.

She walked toward the wall very slowly. Each step felt very heavy. She reached out her hand. Her fingers were just a few inches away from the rough surface of the bricks. She could feel a tiny bit of heat coming from the wall, even though there was no heater nearby. It was like the wall was breathing. It was like the wall was alive.

She was just about to press her palm against the red stone. She wanted to feel the texture of the wall. She wanted to see if she could hear the same whispering that Joe was hearing.

But then, she stopped.

Amina froze. Her hand stayed in the air, trembling. She held her breath. She listened very, very carefully.

From deep inside the wall, she heard a sound. It was not a voice. It was not a whisper.

It was a scratching sound.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

It sounded like long, sharp fingernails were rubbing against the back of the bricks. It sounded like something was trapped inside the wall. It sounded like something was trying to get out.

Amina’s heart stopped for a second. The sound was coming from right in front of her. The scratching was getting faster and louder.

Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.

What was inside the wall?

Why do you think Joe got so angry when Amina asked him about his prayer? Is he hiding something?

Do you think Joe was really praying, or was he doing something else?

What do you think is making that scratching sound inside the wall? Is it an animal, or something much scarier?

Should Amina try to break the wall to see what is inside, or should she run away from the house?

Do you want to know what is making that scratching sound? Will Amina be safe in that house alone? Don't miss Episode 3 of "The Secret Wall"!