The sun shone through my bedroom windows and onto my bed. Birds chirped, as a hint of summer came to me.

“Diogo! Your friends are here!” my dad shouted, breaking the silence of the morning and piercing my ears. His voice grabbed me out of my comfy bed and put me on my feet. Struggling to open my eyes, I walked to the kitchen in my pajamas.

“Who?” I asked, yawning.

“Ben and Jake! Don’t tell me you forgot about your playdate with them.”

My eyes suddenly opened wide. Ben! Jake! My best friends! My veins filled with excitement, and I rushed to the front door and swung it open.

“Finally!” Jake called out, smiling. “We thought you were still sleeping!”

“Oh, no way!” I replied, matching their energy as they came in. This day was getting better and better with each breath.

“You guys wanna play hide and seek?” Ben suggested. Jake and I stared at Ben, with a little smirk showing on our faces. Somehow, this always works, and Ben becomes the seeker again. Jake and I rushed away from Ben as he started counting.

“28…29…30! Ready or not, here I come!” he screamed.

30? It had been like 10 seconds! I frantically looked to my left: my bedroom. Then to my right: the dining area. Nothing. Not a single hiding spot. I looked up and realized I had no other choice but to hide in the creepy attic. I dashed towards my bedroom, grabbed the flashlight on my table, and climbed on the ladder leading to the attic. Each step I took, I felt colder and colder. Finally, I crawled up to the attic and turned on my flashlight. There, I found a large cardboard box just big enough for me to squeeze in.

I coughed and coughed, regretting that I had chosen this hiding place. My body was ready to change my hiding spot, but then I heard my friends near me. After a while of twisting and turning, I found a letter stained with blood, but before I could open it, my friends’ voices filled my ear.

“Gotcha! Hahaha!”

“Stupid,” I complained as I crawled out of the box, pointing at the letter. “Did you put that in there, though?”

“No, stop messing with us,” Ben said.

“Sure thing, buddy.” I replied.

“Alright, come on, let’s go.” Ben complained as he dragged me out of the attic.

My body was with my friends, but my mind stayed in the attic. The bloodstained letter showed in my mind’s eye. My curiosity couldn’t wait for them to leave, which I know made me a bad host, but I dropped hints constantly, “I’m tired. Are you tired? I bet you’d like to rest at your house.”

My hints did not work right away, but after lunch, they finally figured out that I was serious about them leaving. They left hurriedly and angrily, but I didn’t care. I just had to wait until my parents went to bed before I could return to the attic.

That night, I slowly crept to the attic again with my flashlight to find that terrifying letter. When I dug into the cardboard box, I opened the letter, and my eyes focused on the only words written on it: Dead Man’s Hollow, Apt. 202B.

Dead Man’s Hollow? Why did the address have to be this one? The attic was scary enough, but Dead Man’s Hollow was even worse. It was known as the most haunted building in the city, and it was only a couple blocks away from my house.

No matter, I must go. I must prove to my friends that I am the bravest among them! Now, to quietly crawl down from the attic, which would not be easy with the creaking wood, but I did it without waking my parents. Hopefully. Once I was in the living room, I listened for my parents. Their snoring was so loud I could see ZZZs floating out of their bedroom. They would not wake until morning, and by that time I should be back home. Hopefully.

Dead Man’s Hollow was a few blocks from my house, but I had never been there. The place was forbidden, and parents told their children to stay away or they would be taken by the creature that haunted it.

The building was in the city, but nothing was near it. A space of five meters was empty around the building, as if the place had a force in it that kept living things away from it.

I stared at the empty space between me and the building. Would I die if I entered the empty space? Would my parents come looking for me and find my body curled up on the ground? Or if I were killed, would the killer hide my body?

While pondering the possibilities, I decided that going was the only option. I snuck out of my home, found this place, and would now enter it. The letter was given to me for a reason, and that reason was inside Apt. 202B.

I walked into the lobby and saw the elevator. I pushed the up button on the elevator, and to my surprise, it worked. The doors opened, and I stepped in. THUD. The doors closed surprisingly fast. I reached to push the button for the 20th floor, and the elevator shot up. My stomach dropped, and I wanted to vomit, but my mouth held it in. Finally, the elevator stopped smoothly and the doors opened. My legs wobbled. I felt like my knees turned to spaghetti, swallowed my vomit, and teetered out of the elevator.

Rooms lined the hallway, and their numbers glistened on the gold doorknockers. 201A, 201B, 201C, 202A, 202C—no 202B. Wait, why is there no 202B? Was 202B on a different floor? A special room?

I leaned forward and saw more rooms farther down the hall. Perhaps 202B was down there? But why were the rooms out of numerical order? My legs felt stronger, and I slowly walked toward the end of the hall. 202B was on my left. I rubbed my fingers over the doorknob, and the door swung open. A blast of cold air hit me, and I shivered as I entered the room, pushing cobwebs out of my face. The door slammed behind me. I turned the doorknob, but it was locked. My heart beat quickly, my hands sweated, and I didn’t think I would be home before my parents woke up.

The window screeched open, a gale blew in, and the leaves twirled like a tornado. Branches flew around the room, hitting me everywhere. I flung my arms wildly and swatted down the bills, but it did no use.

Out of nowhere, I felt cold, long fingers wrapping around my body, and they yanked me out of the window.

Memories swarmed my brain. My mom. All my friends. Goodbye.

In the darkness, I could hear the loud siren of ambulances. Even with this, I could still focus on his mom’s voice. “Diogo...” she sobbed. I tried my best to speak, but I couldn’t even open my eyes.

The curse of the letter continues...

Waiting for its next victim...