The Mystry Number

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This story is my entry for Dan Antion‘s annual the Thursday Doors Writing Challenge (TDWC). “If you want to join the fun, pick a door, write a story, poem, novel, screenplay, musical score – anything at all.” – Dan Antion.

The Mystry Number

Door by Lois

Jodi adjusted her sunglasses and glanced at the slip of paper again.

220 East Holloway.

A seller had promised all the Star Wars 16” figurines for half the price, cash only, pick up by noon. Jodi had collected Luke Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Baby Yoda. She wanted to collect Princess Leia next.

Josh, her younger brother, was into Harry Potter but happy to come along to check out the Star War collection. He looked at the map on his phone.

“No 220,” he muttered. “It jumps from 204 to 210 to 222, but no 220.”

“This street is a residential area. No more stores, Josh.”

“The seller must be a private collector. Let’s find 220 East.”

They walked the block again, slower this time. Every house had an oversized number on the door: 204… 210… 210… another 210.

“Wait. Did you see that?” Jodi said. “There are three houses in a row with the same number, 210 East.”

Josh nodded. “All three houses have red brick walls. They have the same ash-brown color and rusty door hinges on the wooden doors. The font size of the street numbers is the same. It’s weird.”

“Look, it’s almost noon, but the porch lights on all three are still on.”

At the front of one door, there were two Amazon boxes and one package with a stamp on it. The mailbox was stuffed with envelopes about to poke through the flap.

Jodi walked up to the black steps. “Hello?” she called.

No answer.

“Maybe it’s abandoned?” Josh said.

“I’m not sure. Look.” Jodi pointed to the package with a stamp. “The date on the stamp was three days ago. All three packages are addressed to ‘Resident, 210 East Holloway.’”

She stepped to the right of the door and peered into the front window. It was dark inside.

Jodi hesitated. “Maybe we should leave.”

Josh shrugged and knocked anyway.

No answer.

He was about to knock again when the door creaked open on its own.

Jodi tugged his sleeve. “Let’s just go.”

But Josh had already stepped inside. “Hello?”

Inside, the air was cool and still. A hallway stretched forward into darkness.

“Hello?” Josh said again.

Jodi stepped back toward the door. “I don’t like this.”

Then a voice echoed faintly down the hallway.

“…Hello?”

They both froze.

“…Did you hear that?” Jodi whispered.

Another voice followed, this one female.

“…Is someone there? Are you real?”

Jodi followed the sound through the end of the hallway. A closed door with a frosted glass pane. Behind it, shadows moving.

Jodi knocked once.

Then the door creaked open from the inside.

Inside stood a man, wild-haired, eyes sunken. Behind him, a woman—pale, blinking rapidly.

“You’re here, finally,” the man said slowly.

“Why?” Jodi asked.

“To release us.” The woman answered.

“From what?” Josh was curious.

“See the newspaper clipping on the corkboard?” The man pointed to the wall.

“MISSING: Real Estate Developer Vanishes After Breaking City Code… something about subdividing a property without permit.” Jodi read. Something caught her eye next to the newspaper: a row of house keys labeled 210A, 210B, and 210C.

“The developer sold the three houses to the previous owner with 50% off the listing price. As soon as the transition was over, the developer disappeared. It was a scam. Look to your left and look to your right.” The woman spoke with a staccato voice.

Jodi and Josh looked. The two houses on both sides slowly closed in, but the three houses merged into the one they were in.

“The previous owners paid 150% of the price for one house. Three months later, they died of food poisoning. Their bodies were not found until 10 days later. Their spirits were hovering over their bodies with unrest and couldn’t cross over to the other side.” The man added.

“After their bodies were removed. Their spirits were trapped in the sealed house. The only way they could be released was to find their replacement. That was when they tricked us into visiting the house. They presented us with a riddle to solve. If we could solve it, we would be free to leave. We couldn’t solve it, so we became their replacements.”

“We were left with the same option to find our replacements.”

“The last couple were lucky to solve the riddle, so we had to let them go.”

“Now young man and young lady, here is the riddle to test your luck.”

“Wait, we are here to see the Star War collection. You have two figurines of Princess Leia on your shelf. Can you bring them close to the window for me to look?” Jodi said.

“Okay, young lady, the riddle has something to do with Princess Leia. I’ll bring them over.”

Jodi tugged Josh’s sleeve and gave him a quick glance.

As soon as the two people went up to the shelf, they dashed out the door and slammed it shut behind them.

When they looked back at the house, the porch light was off. The boxes were gone.

And the front door?

It now read 220 East.

*

TDWC – The Mystry Number

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.https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2025/https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2025/

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