The Gap Between Warehouses

The afternoon sun beat down on the cracked pavement as Clara and her older sister, Nina, stepped off the bus, their shopping bags pulling at their arms. They had decided to get off a few stops early to grab ice cream at the Park Plaza, a small shopping center on the edge of the city. The street was alive with honking cars, chattering pedestrians, and the smell of exhaust mixed with frying food from a nearby stand. They walked past a row of small shops, their windows displaying faded mannequins and dusty electronics.

Ahead, the road curved slightly, and on their left, two large, squat warehouses stood side by side, their brick facades weathered and stained. Between them, there was an unusually wide gap, maybe ten or twelve feet, filled with a narrow alley that disappeared into deep shadow. Something about that alley made Clara’s skin prickle. A cold draft seemed to seep out of it, even though the day was warm. Nina, however, didn’t seem to notice. She was too busy complaining about the weight of her bags.

As they drew closer, Clara’s eyes were drawn to the gap. It was strangely neat, as if the two buildings had been deliberately parted to leave space for something. The walls were devoid of windows or doors, just bare, pitted brick. At the far end of the alley, she could see a hint of something, maybe a fence, but it was obscured by a dense, unnatural gloom. The air around it felt heavy, and she could hear a faint, rhythmic sound, like a slow, wet pulse.

‘Come on, Clara, keep moving,’ Nina said, pulling her arm. Clara shook herself, realizing she had slowed to a stop. They resumed walking, but Clara couldn’t shake the feeling that the gap was watching them. She glanced back and saw a flicker of movement in the shadows, a darker shape that might have been a person, or something else. She wanted to mention it, but Nina would just call her silly.

They reached the Park Plaza, a modern complex of glass and chrome, and joined the line at the ice cream stand. Clara’s unease grew as she realized the counter was directly across from the warehouses, giving her a clear view of the gap. She watched as people passed by, none of them even glancing at the dark alley. But then, she saw a man walk into the gap. He was tall, dressed in a dark coat, and he simply vanished into the shadows without hesitation. Clara waited for him to emerge on the other side, but he never did.

After getting their ice creams, Nina suggested they take a shortcut through the ‘service road’ to avoid the main crowd. Clara knew she meant the gap between the warehouses. She tried to protest, but Nina was already walking toward it. Clara had no choice but to follow, her heart pounding. As they entered the alley, the temperature dropped sharply, and the sounds of the street faded to a muffled hush. The walls seemed to press in on them, and the pulse sound grew louder, resonating in her chest.

‘This is creepy,’ Nina whispered, suddenly less confident. They walked past discarded crates and rotting pallets. The shadows deepened, and Clara noticed the light at the far end was not sunlight, but a pale, greenish glow. The pulse was now a constant drumming, and ‘she’ realized it was coming from the ground beneath their feet. They stopped, both of them frozen. The man in the dark coat was standing at the far end, his back to them. He wasn’t moving, just standing there.

Nina called out, asking if he was okay, but he didn’t respond. Clara tugged at Nina’s arm, urging them to go back, but Nina stepped forward. As she did, the glow intensified, and Clara saw that the man’s coat was not a coat but a mass of writhing tentacles. ‘He’ turned, and Clara saw that his face was blank, featureless, except for a gaping mouth that opened wide, emitting a sound that was not a scream but a wet, gurgling hum. The ground beneath them began to move, and Clara felt herself sinking.

She grabbed Nina’s hand and yanked her back, stumbling out of the alley just as the entrance seemed to close, the walls sliding together. They ran, not stopping until they were safe inside the shopping center. When they finally caught their breath, Clara looked back. The alley was still there, but now it was filled with a solid brick wall, no gap at all. The warehouses were joined. ‘No one else seemed to notice anything amiss.’

Later that evening, Clara opened her diary and wrote, ‘We almost didn’t make it out. There’s a gap between warehouses that breathes. I’ll never go near it again.’ She never did. But for years, she would wake in the night, hearing that pulse, and feeling the pull of that narrow opening, wondering if it was still there, waiting for someone else to step through.