Tap Tap

The sound begins at dusk.

At first, it's easy to dismiss - something settling, something passing. But as evening turns into night, the tapping returns, steady and unplaceable, threading through the house and into the spaces it can't possibly be.

For two sisters, the night becomes a test of endurance. Each hears the sound differently. Each responds in her own way: with denial, with vigilance, with the unspoken hope that if they wait long enough, it will stop. It doesn't. The tapping follows them from room to room, shadowing conversations, learning them. Wearing their voices like new skin.

As the hours wear on and exhaustion sets in, old patterns surface and roles harden. The presence in the house grows more insistent - not violent, not visible, but relentless. By early morning, it becomes clear that the sound is not simply something happening to them. They are bound.

Tap Tap is a quiet, unsettling short horror story that unfolds over a single night, from evening to dawn. Focused on family, proximity, and endurance, it explores how easily people adapt to what haunts them - and what it costs to keep listening.

This is the first release in an ongoing monthly series of short horror fiction by Tamsin Peake.