at the bottom of the stai

come from hi

was dow

ps along his arms. He reached for his phone, his fi

ay above

exhaled

being pa

aning under his weight. His bedroom door wa

th, he nudged it o

m looke

ept

et door

peered at him, like an e

hen stepped forward

th

ng limply. The

ide felt colder than

sat at his desk, and

ook was s

itten was his introducti

handwriting beneath it, w

AY PAST

in pri

ne, he checked t

into a drawer, he pus

rank. Or sleep

n, he didn't

sed in unea

with writing, but his thoughts

door, checking the basement (just a dusty storage s

ing was

st, appea

ast 10:30 PM, Donald sat at his

the hallw

so

ath

. Sh

tanding just b

nt comple

and for the first

res

something

grabbed his phone and

grew louder,

d as he reached

the breath

is heart poundi

ng to hear anythin

was only

the knob and pul

lway wa

ppressive, as if the hous

shut the door

sleep th

, the house's unsettli

rs emanating from the walls,

al places a chair shifted, book

his teeth, the bathroom mirror

VE N

back, dropping

wly faded, leav

the local library the next day, seeking

oman in her late sixties with sh

ed the address, her

an, lowering her voice,

, pulling out old newspaper

s ago, the house had belong

lusive, rarel

out strange rituals

reported screams co

d the entire family dead, their bod

ever determined, and the

ienced disturbances-apparitions, unexplaine

e nickname: The Hou

ooked at Do

cursed," she said. "Perha

chill but was

ist instinc

haunted house; it was a

e, Donald felt a rene

ment, hoping to capture e

nto nights, the hous

id and terrifying, where he was trapped w

he echoes of his own scr

ces, calling his name,

would smile back at him, e

on reality s

mself, paranoi

ry gust of wind

leeping only when ex

ck struck midnight, D

aby, drifting t

llowed the sound t

had avoided, sen

felt compell

tairs, the melody grew

und an old gramophon

llaby playe

ournal, its pages

zing the name on the c

led Melissa's des

ces, seeing apparitions, an