Leo Miller, a London native, travels alone to Montana on Halloween night, drawn by the legend of a famous haunted house. The rain lashes violently against the windshield as he drives across the eerily empty road, surrounded by endless darkness. By the time he arrives near midnight, the storm has only intensified, and the house looms in the distance, barely visible through the hazy fog. The air feels thick and suffocating, almost as if it's watching him as he steps closer. Every creak of the old house and the silence of the surrounding cabins make the uneasiness worse. A heavy uneasiness settles over Leo as he steps closer, the silence around him pressing in and making every creak of the old house feel louder, as if something about this place is deeply wrong. 

    Just as Leo reaches the beginning of the old, creaky steps, lightning flashes brightly enough to illuminate the windows, and for a split second, it looks like someone is inside, watching him. Leo’s heart rate accelerates, and his body tenses. What appears to be a humanoid figure in the window turns out to be a coat rack with old clothes, possibly placed there to scare people away. Leo catches his breath, his pulse slowly calming, and reaches the top of the stairs. He checks his phone, only to find there is no signal at all. A cold dread crawls up his spine, and the hairs on his arms rise. He mutters to himself, “You made it. Don’t turn around,” before opening the loud, creaking door and stepping inside.

As Leo enters the house, a cold gust of wind slams the door behind him, leaving him standing in the darkness. A sudden flashback hits him, a distorted memory of himself with another man inside this very house, filled with blurred and chaotic

moments that make his head throb. He wonders why the house feels so familiar, as if it's forcing him to remember something he's tried to forget. “Ugh… why do I feel like I’ve been here before? And who’s that guy?  Why can't I remember anything?” 

    Leo feels like he is hallucinating and wants to get out of the house immediately, but something is stopping him from leaving. It is as if an unseen force holds him in place, refusing to let him escape. He continues to look around, and as he explores the house, more and more flashbacks surface, making the scenes clearer. The man’s face finally comes into focus, and Leo realizes he has seen him before: it is the same person from a missing-persons poster from a year ago. Leo feels a wave of confusion and fear, unable to understand why these memories are appearing in his mind, almost as if something is urging him to uncover the truth. As he tries to go upstairs, a sudden shadow figure appears, silently guiding him down a hallway he hasn’t noticed before, leading him to a door he doesn’t recognize.

He stops in shock when he sees it, a deep red door. The red door has a piece of paper on it that reads, “Enter if you dare,” the words smeared in what looks like dried blood. Leo feels uneasy, but his curiosity takes over, and he reaches for the handle. Just as his hand touches it, he suddenly hears a voice from behind him. “Don’t enter that room!” The voice is unfamiliar, but when he turns around, he sees him, the man from the poster. His skin is pale, his expression is lifeless, and his hollow eyes hold no sign of life. Leo’s bravery begins to fade, and he stands there, pale as a ghost. Suddenly, the man disappears. Leo hesitates, questioning whether to go through the red door. After a moment of silence, he makes his choice. He steps inside, and as soon as he enters the darkness, the floor

    beneath him collapses without warning, causing him to fall and lose consciousness.

    Leo wakes up in a dim space beneath the house, surrounded by old photos, broken furniture, and thick dust filling the air, and everything comes rushing back to him. A year ago, he had come here with the missing man, both drawn by the same legend. Inside, fear twisted his mind until, in a moment of panic, he pushed the man, sending him falling into the darkness below. The house didn’t let Leo escape after that; instead, it took his memory and trapped him in a cycle, forcing him to relive the truth he tried to forget. The red door was never just a room; it was a path to his buried guilt. When Leo climbs back upstairs, the storm has disappeared, and the front door is wide open, creaking in the wind, but something feels wrong. The world outside moves on without noticing him, and when he turns back, the house has

completely vanished. That’s when he truly understands that he never really left the first time. Now he exists in a quiet space between life and death, bound to the place where the house appears. Each Halloween, as a new visitor arrives chasing the legend, Leo becomes part of it too, a silent figure in the shadows, watching, waiting, and ensuring that no one who enters can escape the truth like he once tried to do.

The End.  

    At lunch, whispers spread through the cafeteria, cutting through the usual noise. Isabela notices people glancing at her and then looking away. Across the room, her friend stands frozen, her phone in hand, her face shifting from confusion to hurt. Someone sent her a video showing Isabela laughing a little too close, flirting with her ex-boyfriend after school the day before. The confrontation is quick and loud. Her friend storms up to Isabela, her voice shaking.

 “How could you do this to me?” she demands, holding up her phone. 

“Was I just a joke to you?” The room goes silent.

 Isabela crosses her arms, forcing a careless shrug. 

“It wasn’t a big deal,” she mutters, though her voice lacks its usual confidence, but the damage is done. 

The betrayal is not just the flirting, but that her friend heard about it from someone else. By the end of the day, Isabela’s group of friends starts to split. People pick sides, conversations stop when she walks by, and for the first time, she feels what it’s like to be on the outside. 

    Isabela finds herself surrounded by lots of people, making the space feel cramped despite its size. Her heart is constricted with shame and rage burning beneath her skin. Her ex-friend’s mocking smile from the previous day, someone taping her, and a single malicious whisper, which turned into a rumor. All this culminates in a painful, metallic pain inside her body. Isabela's friend approaches her in tears, asking.

    "Why did you do that to me?" A dozen cameras appear above their heads as an accusation.

     The desire to blame, sneer, and punish those people hits her momentarily, but once she speaks, she feels completely different.

     "I'm sorry." She knows that this little apology is not enough; it's a feeble attempt at redemption. 

    But she says these words nonetheless. The cafeteria falls silent for a while, as if trying to absorb her words. Some faces become softer; some get harder. Her former friend shakes her head and turns away because the betrayal has gone too far. Isabela is left standing there without any warmth left on her cheeks, suddenly realizing that none of the respect she demanded has ever been earned. Overwhelmed by everything that has just happened, she looks around, and everyone is staring at her intensely. She suddenly pushes through the crowd and makes her way out, running to the bathroom with tears streaming down her face. She can't believe the 

humiliation. Suddenly, she remembers an old friend, someone she had done the same thing to. Except when the confrontation happened, Isabela played victim, and that caused everyone to laugh at the girl and not Isabela. The girl moved schools, and Isabela couldn’t have cared less. Now, faced with the same kind of pain, Isabela realizes that the people she thought respected her don’t really, because she has never done anything to earn their respect. She begins crying even more in the stall, 

    and suddenly she hears the sound of a picture being taken. She pauses, looks up, and sees someone has taken a picture of her in one of her most embarrassing moments. Seconds later, she hears what feels like the entire school bursting into laughter. Within minutes, she knows the image will spread, texts, posts, and comments, turning her worst moment into entertainment for everyone else.

    In the weeks that follow, unable to escape the consequences of that moment, Isabela makes the difficult decision to transfer schools. Starting over is not easy, but it gives her the chance to reflect on everything that has happened. On her first day at the new school, she notices a girl sitting alone at lunch. For a moment, she hesitates, remembering who she used to be. Then, quietly, she sits down across from her and says, “Hi.” It is a small choice, but a different one. Later that week, when she hears someone being mocked in the hallway, she does not stay silent. “That’s not funny,” she says, her voice unsure but firm. The words feel unfamiliar, but right. She begins to understand that betraying others only leads to loneliness, and that respect can never be forced; it has to be earned through honesty and kindness. Though she carries the weight of her past, Isabela slowly starts to change, choosing to treat others differently and to value trust over status. This time, she is determined to build

real connections, knowing that true respect begins with the choices she makes every day.

    The End

    Lizzy was eighteen, with black hair and big brown eyes. She lived in a busy city in California, and the summer heat made everything feel slow and tiring. It was 2025, and she had just graduated from high school, but instead of feeling excited, she mostly felt stuck. Her days were usually the same, staying in her small, quiet home while her family worked. The house often felt empty, and the silence made her feel even more alone. She didn’t have many friends, so she spent a lot of time by herself. Still, Lizzy was very curious. When she walked around the city, she liked to look into windows and watch people, wondering what it would be like to live a different life. Deep down, she felt like something was missing and that there had to be more out there for her. 

    The damp pavement of the crowded city felt heavy under Lizzy’s boots as she

wandered, searching for a spark of something interesting to break the monotony of her eighteen years. Her soft accent hummed a quiet tune to herself until a small, weathered vintage shop caught her eye, standing out like a relic against the gray buildings. Driven by her natural curiosity, she stepped inside and immediately spotted it: a stunning lace necklace with a deep red pearl glowing at its center. Her heart sank when she saw the price tag, but a glance around confirmed the shop was eerily empty. Fidgeting with her ragged sleeves, she felt the old familiar itch in her fingers. Stealing wasn't new to her; it was a skill she had perfected during her upbringing in poverty just to survive. She still remembered being ten years old, slipping a loaf of bread beneath her oversized jacket while her little brother waited outside, hungry and trying not to cry. With one swift, practiced motion, she tucked the necklace away, unaware that this specific secret was about to teleport her far

beyond the life she was trying to escape. As she stepped back onto the crowded sidewalk, her heart pounded hard against her chest, each beat louder than the sounds of the city around her. She kept her head down and her hands buried in her pockets, half expecting someone to call out and stop her. But no one did. As she walked farther away, relief slowly replaced her fear, and her fingers instinctively brushed against the hidden necklace, which felt strangely warm beneath the fabric.

    After leaving the shop, Lizzy ran breathless until she reached her small, humble home, where the silence told her that her family had not yet returned. In the shadows of the room, she caught her reflection on the metallic surface of a tin can from a dinner two days ago, admiring how the lace necklace looked so bright and

elegant against her pale skin. The deep red of the pearl stood out and contrasted with her black hair, and as she played with the jewel, she began to imagine herself in the freshness of a distant forest to explore it. In the blink of an eye, the heavy air of her home vanished, replaced by the scent of damp earth and the sound of leaves moving in the wind. Lizzy didn't know what had happened or how she had gotten there, but then the necklace began to glow, and that was when she realized the necklace was magic. She tried it again, thinking of another place, and in a matter of seconds, she was already somewhere else. Slowly, she began to feel more confident with her new necklace and set herself the task of exploring all the places she wanted. What was the worst that could happen?

Then, the worst that could happen happened. The necklace’s light started dimming,

and the necklace stopped working. Lizzy took a look around her surroundings, and she was on a remote island. Lizzy was in utter shock. As soon as she snapped out of it, she began to hit the necklace against her palm, trying anything to make it work again. As she was freaking out, continuing to hit the necklace against her palm, she yelled, “Work, work, work, work!” hoping that eventually the light would come back on and the necklace would start working again. She even ran to the oceanside and started running the necklace through the water, though it did nothing. She dropped to her knees, letting her grip go of the necklace as it lay loosely in the palm of her hand.

Lizzy realized she should never have taken it from the shop and began to lose hope of ever feeling the warmth and comfort of her home. Thinking about her home was