Pāhonoa te oro

At 2:17 AM, I woke to a sound. Knock. Knock. Knock. Not the door. The wall behind my bed. I live alone. There’s nothing there. It came again. Slower this time… like it was waiting. I should’ve ignored it. But I didn’t. I knocked back. Silence. Then— BANG. BANG. BANG. The wall shook. Something answered. Harder. Closer. I stepped back, heart racing. That’s when I heard it. Breathing. Right behind the wall. Wet. Slow.