Final answer:
In the short story, a mysterious knock at the door unsettles Ella and her brother, leading to a suspenseful encounter with a possible supernatural presence.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Story:
There was a knock at their door—the sound of urgent rapping that echoed through the silent hallways of the old house. As the clock hands drew together to mark midnight, Ella and her brother exchanged nervous glances. The night had been still, the quiet only broken by the tick-tock of the grandfather clock standing sentinel in the corner of the living room. Ignoring the goosebumps rising on her arms, Ella moved cautiously towards the door, while her brother, Tom, fetched the baseball bat they kept for security.
With a deep breath to steady her nerves, Ella reached for the doorknob, her hand trembling slightly. The knock came again, louder, more insistent. She swung the door open to reveal… nothing. Just the darkened porch and the whisper of the wind through the trees. Was it just a prankster, or had the old stories of a haunted neighborhood begun to materialize into reality?
As they stood bewildered, questioning their senses, a rustling in the nearby bushes caught their attention. The wind carried a faint whisper, a fleeting phrase carried from a distant past—or perhaps from something far stranger angling in the shadows—that sent chills down their spines. 'A little water clears us of this deed,' it murmured, just as a cloud passed over the moon, plunging them back into darkness.