Walking into a new school is frightening. I’ve moved eight times since I was six, but Dad said this would be the last time for sure. I’m hopeful, but I never keep my hopes too high.

The first day went well, I even started to talk to some of the other girls. They all seem nice, everyone does for the most part, but it’s high school, people aren’t always what they seem.

After talking to my parents and the girls who I came to befriend at school, I invited them to spend the night at my house. During lunch I gave them all the details of where I lived. One of the girls seemed hesitant though, and I don’t know why. It was the first time she was acting strange around me. I hope it wasn’t something I did or said.

So now it’s Friday night, and they should be here in about 30 minutes. I’m excited but nervous; my parents can be freaks sometimes.


“Hey guys! What’s up?”

Michelle, Kayla and Leah walk in. The girls are smiling, all except Leah. She tries to make it seem like she’s excited, but it’s obvious to the rest of the girls that she’s not.

“Hi girls, I’m Mrs. D and this is my husband and Danielle‘s dad, Mr. D, would you like some snacks or a drink maybe?”

“No thanks mom, we’re fine, we’ll be upstairs in my room.”

“Okay girls, have fun!”

“Thank you.” The three girls said in unison.

The four girls walk upstairs to Danielle’s room. The door creaks open to a mid-sized room with plum walls and a full-sized bed decorated royally. The window across from the door is wide and open. You can look straight out of the window across the street to a broken-down house. The girls step in one by one, Danielle behind them. The door closes behind the girls. Sunlight is streaming in through the vast window and the gold accents on the bed are gleaming, making it hard to look at.

They look around at the bedroom in awe. Leah walked straight to the vast window and cringed.

“What’s wrong Leah?” Danielle asked.

“Oh, ignore her,” Michelle started, “she’s afraid of that house over there. There have been…stories.”

“What kind of stories?”

“Oh you know how people are when a house is abandoned. It’s suddenly haunted with ghosts and of course rumors of crazy and deranged stuff that went on with the last owners, but I’ll tell you later it’ll make a nice bedtime story.” Michelle laughed as Leah turned around.

“It’s not funny Michelle, you think you know everything and just because you don’t believe it because it didn’t happen to you doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” Leah snapped back

“Oh stop, knoww I believe what happened, it’s just been exaggerated over time, that’s how all stories are.”

“Whatever.”

The subject quickly changed, as there was tension between Michelle and Leah. The quarrel was forgotten quickly though as the girls watched movies, played games and told stories.

As night progressed, it started to rain. From the view in Danielle’s room the girls were blinded with the strikes of lightening and deafened by the raging rolls of thunder. It was getting late, Kayla started to drift off to sleep, Leah was easing up until the storm started and Michelle and Danielle were laughing at the horror movies that they found cheesy.

Right as the young, hopeless woman was walking into a dark room and the killer was about to jump out, the lights went out and the t.v. shut off. The girls screamed, half in fright and half because of irony.

“Are you girls alright? It seems that we’re experiencing a black out from the storm.” Danielle’s mom called to the girls.

“Yeah, we’re alright mom, we have flashlights.”

“Alright girls, have fun.” Danielle’s mom’s footsteps creaked away and it was now silent.

“Well, since there’s nothing else to do I’ll tell you about your shy neighbors across the street,” Michelle said.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea Michelle? Seriously, it’s creepy and with the black out, she might get scared.”

“No, she’ll be fine, it’s your underwear that I’m worried about.”

Leah scoffed as Michelle turned to face Danielle.

“So, that house across the street wasn’t always abandoned, but the owner was always creepy. Before we were born a doctor moved in, Dr. Dread, people called him. It wasn’t his real name… at least I don’t think it was, but anyway, he moved in when the house was nice and he neglected the yard and the house. He never came out of his house, not for anything, it was a mystery of how he got anything inside.

“One day he had a daughter, no one knows how, she was about our age, maybe a little older, no one really knows because she didn’t go to school with us, apparently she was home schooled. All anyone knew about her was her name, Heaven-Leigh.

“Heaven-Leigh was gorgeous. She had bright blue eyes and long blonde hair. She always looked put together, always wore nice dress’, and she loved being in the yard even though she was rarely allowed out.

“As she grew older the people could tell that she wasn’t the happy free spirit she was when she was a baby. One day people heard noises coming from the house. Screaming, yelling, shouting, things breaking, so the neighbors naturally called the cops. By the time the cops got there, it was completely silent, it even seemed that the police sirens should have been turned off. When they went inside, they came out with Dr. Dread on a stretched, covered. He was dead. Heaven-Leigh was nowhere to be found.

“The cops said it was a suicide but found it eerie that Heaven-Leigh fled. This was when we were in what..like sixth grade. Everyone knew about it, but no one dared to talk about it. The house was never put up for resale again and now it just sits there. There are claims that Dr. Dread haunts the house and Heaven-Leigh returned to the house and now she lives in there all alone, but no ones ever seen or heard anything, it’d be impossible anyway.

“But every Halloween, some idiot decides to go into the house and look around to see if the rumors are true, but they always come out and nothing ever happens to them.”

“That’s not true!” Leah exclaimed, “the guys that go in there, sure they come out, but no one ever knows what they saw or experienced, you want to know why? Because they are afraid to say something, they are never the same after they go in and come out. There’s something in there Michelle and you know it!”

“Yeah, whatever, I doubt there is anything in there, those guys are stupid to begin with, their just trying to get attention by acting afraid, it isn’t true Leah.”

“Well, I guess the only way to find out is to find out for ourselves.” Danielle blurted out.

“What!? Are you crazy!?” Leah yelled.

“That’s a good idea,” Michelle said slyly, “but we can’t go over right now anyway, it’s pouring.”

At that moment, the flashlight flickered and died. The candles blew out. There was a crash of thunder and a bolt of lightening made the room glow. Kayla woke up in a daze.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

She looked around; everyone was gone.

“What the…” Kayla got up and stretched. She went over to the flashlight lying on the ground and tried turning it on. Nothing. She set it back down on the floor and rubbed her eyes while walking towards the bedroom door. She turned one last time and she could see the house across the street, abandoned and lighting up with the explosion of lightening.

She walked down the spiral staircase, creaking with every step and walked down into the kitchen.

“Kayla?” a voice asked.

“Oh jeeze!” Kayla turned around, “oh hi Mrs. D, I’m sorry you startled me, I fell asleep and just woke up and the girls aren’t in the room anymore, I was just looking for them.”

“Well, maybe they went down into the cellar, I thought I heard them going down before.”

“Oh okay, thank you.”

“You’re very welcome darling.” Mrs. D laughed quietly to herself as Kayla turned around and walked towards the cellar.

Kayla approached the heavy door and opened it as it creaked and screamed with agony. She began to walk down slowly.

The light was dim, the stairs were crying, she could hear something… a horror movie perhaps?

As she approached the bottom where the stairs met the hard, cold, grey floor her eyes met the glaring television and her two friends, backs facing Kayla.

“Guys, what are you doing? Where’s Danielle?”

She walked towards the two girls and put her hand on their shoulders. A crash of thunder shook the house as she turned her friends around. Their throats were slit. Kayla gasped as she fell backwards into the hands of Mr. and Mrs. D. She turned around in shock as she cried and yelled to them.

“We have to get out of here! Someone’s after us, we’re going to die! Call the police!”

“Oh darling, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” Mr. D walked over to the two dead girls, “they’re in a better place now.”

“What? Huh? They’re dead, aren’t you going to do something?!”

Mrs. D laughed. “Oh darling, you must not understand. This was their fate, it’s okay, and you’ll be with them soon too.”

Kayla finally realized what they were talking about. She was stunned, for a second she could not move her feet. She then sprinted up the stairs and started to run to the door.

“Kayla? What’s wrong?”

Danielle appeared behind her.

“Leah… Michelle… dead in the basement,” she was sobbing.

“What? What are you talking about?”

“They’re dead Danielle! And your parents want to kill me too! We’ve got to go!” She was pulling Daniele’s hand towards the front door.

“Why, what’s so bad about that?”

Kayla was confused, “What do you mean what’s so bad about that? Danielle, do you understand what I’m saying?”

“No, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. You know that house across the street? Well of course you do,” Danielle started to talk as Mr. and Mrs. D slowly appeared behind her, “That house was my home. My father owned it, some people called him… what was it…Dr. Dread?”

Kayla was speechless at what she was hearing. Danielle wasn’t Danielle, she was Heaven-Leigh, and her dad… she murdered her dad.

“I bet know the story, Michelle decided to tell me about my life earlier while you were sleeping, I guess you’re too good to hear it again. And Leah.. Oh well Leah, poor girl, I bet she knew it from the beginning. She was pretty frightened, but what a smart girl.

“And now, you know, and now you need to forget about it…”

Heaven-Leigh and Mr. and Mrs. D were walking towards her. Kayla sprinted towards the door but it was locked. She fell to the ground, screaming for help. Thunder crashed again and lightening lit up the three faces of her new fate.


As the parents of Michelle, Leah and Kayla called the police for there missing children, the police could find no sign of people living in the house. No records of people moving in or out, no Danielle in the school files. Nothing. It’s a mystery where they went and where they’re going next. But I’m sure it’ll come up eventually.