Located at a kind of hostel in the middle of the woods, it stands out in between the bunch of trees and shrubbery due to the varnished and bright wooden plates of which it is made. Within its walls, I share a room with a few friends (two guys [brothers] and two girls). Although everything looks fine at the beginning, I have the feeling that there’s something wrong about this place, I don’t know what, I just sense it.

A time jump occurs and suddenly night gobbles up the day, leaving us enclosed in our room ready to fall asleep when one of my pals, John, tells us he needs to go to the bathroom, so he stands up, opens the door and gets out. As time passes, he seems not to come back so we all look at each other and start to ask ourselves what is taking him so long. I get on my feet in order to go for him and reach the door, but right before I open it, we all hear a sound coming from the gigantic wooden wardrobe garnishing the room.

—What… is that? —one of my female buddies ask terrified by that dreadful noise.

As I am the one closest to the fitment, I swallow up my fear, hold its handle and slowly rotate it to the right in order to discover what’s hidden inside, a little beautiful handcrafted music box with a piece of ripped paper next to it. I take it and, although some of the sentence is missing, read: —… awaits.

That word leaves us confused.

—What does it mean?… What’s going on?… What the hell? —I hear from the mouths of my comrades.

—Wait a moment, I’ll go find John and then we'll see what this is all about—I reply while I open the door and make my way through the lengthy and dim corridor where every room cohabits. At each step I take forward, I take one look back. The ambience cannot be more frightening as the sharp pitch of the wind entering the stay through the little gaps of the windows breaks the complete silence in which the place is plunged. It gives me chills.

Eventually I get to the bathroom after walking more than what I expected only to find it empty. No one’s there, neither hints of John. Mixed-up by this, I decide to go back.

—Did you find him? —I’m asked as soon as I get to the room by his brother.

—No, and the bathroom looked as if no one had used it tonight.

—What do you mean as if no one has used it!? —he starts to lose his temper —We all saw Johnny getting out through that doorway nearly an hour ago!

—Maybe he went somewhere else, I have no idea, all I know is that he isn’t there —I reply.

In the middle of what would’ve become a big argument, all of a sudden we hear a big blare against our room’s door, followed by a low whining now coming from the aisle I had just left behind. We again stare at each other speechless.

—Please, make all of this stop! —the girl who had not spoken yet sobs, putting her hands to her head as the other tries to comfort her though her face also expresses horror.

Sighing deep and heavily, I stand in front of it and cautiously open it. After discovering what had produced that startling sound, I feel petrified, there isn’t a muscle I can move. I cannot hold my tears from starting to sprout, not only of sorrow but also hopelessness.

John hangs from the ceiling of the hall, dead. His broken purple neck, pale skin… His whole unvivid body increases my heart beats.

—What’s there!? —my pals ask.

I wanna tell them what I’m glancing at, but I find no strength for doing so. I keep looking at John’s corpse when impromptu his body starts to shake provoking his eyes to stare at mine. He has no expression on his face, just his eyes seem alive.

—Jo…John? —I say nearly panicking.

—Death awaits —he replies in a very raspy and horrific voice, raising his arms, grabbing me from the neck and lifting my body, choking me to death.

After that, he throws me to the floor and all I can hear are the screams of my colleagues as well as the melody of that little beautiful handcrafted music box in the background before I wake up.

THE END