Tap Tap Tap is a scary Halloween story about a group of school children, a secret knock and a crazed murderer on the loose.
I will tell you a story about something terrible that happened on Halloween. This story is true, so they say, and it made my hair stand on end just to hear it.
It all happened many years ago in my town, which, at that time, was just a little town between the mountains of Catalonia, Spain. The town was little more than a small square with a church, a park, a prison and a school, with all the houses clustered around. The town was very proud of their school since it had been voted the best school in the province.
It was the morning of October 31st – Halloween – and a class of students were doing arts and crafts in their classroom. Some were cutting skeletons out of sheets of paper, some were painting vampire bats and others were drawing pumpkins. The students were all aged between eight and nine years old. Their teacher was a beautiful young woman who had only been working at the school for one month.
While the children were having fun, preparing the Halloween decorations, the teacher turned the radio to listen to the weather forecast. She was planning to organize an outdoor Halloween party for the kids later that day and wanted to be sure that it wouldn’t rain.
Suddenly, the weather forecast was interrupted by a news bulletin.
“This is an important announcement. A convicted murderer has escaped from the local prison and is on the loose. He is described as armed and very dangerous. Please, do not attempt to apprehend him. The police will…”
The teacher rushed across the room and switched off the radio. She did not want to alarm the children, but it was too late. The children had all heard the broadcast and were very frightened by the news. They knew that the prison was very near the school. The teacher tried to reassure them and told them not to worry.
A few minutes later, the school principal made an announcement over the intercom:
“Attention all teachers! We have been informed that police are dealing with a very serious situation that is occurring right now in the town. All teachers are advised to lock the doors and windows of their classrooms until the police get this situation under control. I repeat, lock all doors and windows until further instruction. That is all.”
The teacher told the class to stay calm. She took out her key and locked the classroom door. Then she went around and closed every window, making sure that they were secure and nobody could get in.
One little girl raised her hand and asked if she could go to the bathroom. The teacher didn’t want to let her go, but the girl insisted. The teacher finally relented and gave her permission to go to the toilet. After all, it was unlikely that the murderer would come to the school.
She told the girl that, when she came back, she would have to give a secret knock at the classroom door. Then they would know that it was her and they could let her back in. The code was three taps and two scratches.
Tap tap tap. Scratch scratch.
The girl left to go to the bathroom and the teacher locked the door behind her. To take the children’s minds off the scary situation, she started telling stories. After 20 minutes had passed and the girl still had not returned, the teacher began to get worried.
“What’s taking her so long”, she wondered out loud.
Suddenly, they could hear footsteps in the corridor. Everybody in the classroom froze. Then they heard a noise at the door:
Tap tap tap. Scratch scratch.
“She’s back”, sighed the teacher in relief.
She walked over, took out her key.
“what if it’s not her”, asked one little boy who was shivering with fright.
The teacher hesitated, her key inches from the lock.
Again they heard a noise at the door:
Tap tap tap. Scratch scratch.
“It must be her”, said the teacher. She put the key into the door and unlocked it.