Three Knocks at 3 AM

Warning. If you hear three knocks at your door at exactly 3 AM, do not answer it.

My grandmother told me this rule when I was twelve, and I laughed it off as superstition.

Twenty years later, I wish I had listened. It started three weeks ago. I woke up to three

distinct knocks on my apartment door. Slow, deliberate,

evenly spaced. I checked my phone. 3 AM exactly. I looked through the peephole and

saw nothing but darkness. Not the normal darkness of an empty hallway, but an absolute

void, like something was covering the lens from the other side. The knocking came

again the next night. Same time. Same pattern. This time I called out asking who was