Episode Two | The Three Knocks | The Occult’s Bride | Chosen Against My Will | Short Mystery Story 

The silence in my home was heavier than stone. I stood frozen, staring at the door. The three knocks still echoed in my ears—slow, deliberate, as though whoever stood outside already knew I would open.

I whispered a verse into the stillness, clutching my Tanakh to my chest:

> “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

My hand trembled as I reached for the handle. I prayed under my breath, “Adonai, shield me.”

I opened the door.

A man stood there. Not cloaked, not robed—ordinary in appearance. His clothes were travel-worn, his face weathered, and his eyes… his eyes carried a knowing that pierced me deeper than the cloaked men’s threats ever could.

“Shalom,” he said softly, as though speaking my name without uttering it. “You don’t know me, but I know you.”

I stepped back. Fear and hope wrestled within me. “Who are you?”

His gaze fell to the ring still pulsing on my floor. He didn’t flinch. Instead, he whispered:

“They have chosen you for their covenant. But Heaven has chosen you for another.”

A Stranger with Secrets

I demanded answers, my voice shaking. “Are you one of them?”

“No.” His reply was firm. “But I have walked among them. I know their ways. I know their vows.”

“Then why are you here?”

“To give you what they never will,” he said, his voice lowering to a whisper, “a choice.”

He stepped closer, and I could see scars across his hands—marks that looked like burns. “They seek to bind you by force. But the Holy One does not bind His beloved in chains. He calls in love, not compulsion.”

I stared at him, trying to read his face. Something about his presence felt like a paradox—comforting and terrifying all at once.

The Test of Trust

He lifted something from his pocket. A parchment, old and frayed, with words written in Hebrew.

It read:

"The Bride is marked. Her womb is sealed for war. The child shall be for light or for flame."

My knees weakened. “What does this mean?” I whispered.

His eyes locked onto mine. “It means they will stop at nothing. They want your child for their fire. But Heaven has declared otherwise.”

I shook my head violently. “No—this cannot be true. This is madness!”

“Is it?” he asked quietly. “Or is it written?”

Before I could respond, his voice shifted, quoting Yeshua with authority that sent chills down my spine:

> “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10)

Tears burned in my eyes. My child… My unborn child.

The Shadow Returns

Suddenly, the air grew colder. The man stiffened, his head turning sharply as though he sensed something I couldn’t see.

“They’re here,” he whispered.

A sound rose outside—chanting. Low, guttural, in a tongue I didn’t understand. Shadows flickered against the windows, as though unseen figures moved in the night.

The stranger stepped inside and shut the door. His voice was urgent now.

“You must choose quickly. Do you trust me—or will you face them alone?”

Before I could answer, the chanting stopped. Silence.

Then, a voice thundered through the air, not human, not natural:

“The bride is ours.”

The walls trembled. The lights shattered. The ring on the floor blazed with fire.

The stranger grabbed my hand and shouted, “Decide now!”

I opened my mouth to answer—

And the door exploded inward.

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🔥 End of Episode Two

Episode Three | The Covenant of Fire where we reveal who this mysterious stranger is, what the occult’s true plan for the child means, and what happens when the dark forces physically invade the house?