Spring Break

Your hand trembles, and the flickering candle you hold casts dancing shadows on the torn and yellowed wallpaper. Slowly, you make your way across the dusty floor toward the dark staircase. On its own, your gaze is drawn up the stairs, to where the candle’s meager flame fades into black.

Growing up, you and your little sister always said you wanted to explore the old house. Emily had foolishly gone inside last month—and she never came back out. You returned home to try and find out what happened to her.

The beating of your heart grows louder in your own ears, and your room at the college dorm seems very far away; almost as far as the look in your father’s eyes when you mention your sister’s name.

As you step onto the third riser, your candle suddenly puffs out in the now dead air, and a gravelly voice in the blackness above you quietly says, “Welcome Home.”