Gotcha in the Wall

Do you trust your own ears? I started hearing it weeks ago. A faint,

rhythmic tapping from the wall behind my bed. At first, I blamed old pipes.

Then it became a scratch, like nails dragging slowly. Always when I was

drifting off to sleep. One night, it wasn't just scratching. It was whispering.

A guttural murmur, too soft to understand, but too close to ignore. I pressed my ear

to the wall, desperate to identify it. The whispering stopped. Then,

a sharp rap came from *my side* of the wall, directly against my ear.

A voice, clear as day, said, "Gotcha." I don't sleep in