him. “Who are you?”
to work. It refused to budge. She grumbled and
climbed in bed. She was too tired to do anything about it.
The boy smirked. “My name’s Mason,”
he answered. He straightened up, smirking.
“You’re Ariana, right?”
The next morning, Ariana woke to her
alarm clock. Groaning, she turned it off and
hauled herself out of bed. She stumbled to her
closet, grabbed the knob and yanked it open.
Ariana nodded, uneasy. “How do you
know my name?” she asked.
Mason shrugged. “Lucky guess,” he
said slyly. He looked her over. “Not much, are
you?”
“That’s weird,” she mumbled. “It wouldn’t open last night.” She shrugged and got her
clothes, closing the door. She gasped, dropping them. She stared at her door in horror,
wide-eyed. Carved into its wood were these
words: “Good morning, Ariana. Have a good
sleep?”
Ariana tensed. “Is there something you
need?” she asked through gritted teeth.
He laughed. “Nope,” he said. “I’ve gotten what I need.” He smirked and turned, walking away.
Ariana scowled. “Mason,” she mumbled.
“What a creep.” She turned on her heel and
marched back inside.
Later that night, Ariana was lying awake
in her bed, studying for a test she had the next
day. She was in the middle of reading about
genetics when she heard a noise coming from
the hall. She looked up, expecting to see her
mom come in and tell her to go to sleep. When
she didn’t come in, Ariana just shrugged it off
and went back to studying.
About an hour later, Ariana got ready for
bed. She yawned, exhausted from studying.
She walked across the room to put her book in
her bag. As she walked past her closet, she
heard a loud creak as the door cracked open.
She froze, her heart racing. She walked over to
it and opened it all the way, ready to whack her
sister on the head as she jumped out to scare
her. But her sister didn’t come out. The closet
was empty. Puzzled, Ariana left the door open
and went to bed.
Several hours later, Ariana woke with a
start. A loud bang had woken her. She looked
around. Maybe it was Dad, she thought. She
checked her clock. It read 3:33 AM. She
frowned and got up. Using her phone as a
flashlight, she looked around for the cause of
the noise. Her eyes fell on her closet. The door
was completely closed. Carefully, she went
over to it. With a shaking hand, she grasped
the knob and tried to turn it. But it wouldn’t turn.
Confused, she jiggled the knob, trying to get it
Ariana gaped at her door in disbelief.
She stood there, eyes locked on the words.
Who could have done this? She jumped, hearing her mother coming up the stairs. She rummaged through her room, trying to find something to cover up the carvings. She found an
old poster and tape, quickly hanging the poster
over her door. Her mom came in, blabbing
about how she was going to miss school if she
didn’t hurry up.
“And if you miss today, that’ll be the
third time this month. Ariana? Ari, are you listening to me?” Her mother had noticed her
daughter’s silence and walked over, frowning.
“Are you feeling alright?” she asked. “You’re
really pale.”
Ariana nodded. “Yeah,” she said, “I’m
fine. I’ll be down in a minute.” She shoved her
mother out the door, closing it behind her. She
stood there, her back against the door, looking
around her room. What was going on? The
noise and the door last night and the carvings
this morning. Was she going crazy? She shook
her head to clear it; she couldn’t think about
that right now. She changed her clothes,
grabbed her bag, and went downstairs.
As she walked to school, Ariana kept
feeling like she was being watched. The hair
on her neck stood up, and cold shivers ran
down her spine. She put off the urge to look
over her shoulder until she reached the school.
Once she was in the safety of the building and
surrounded by a thick shield of students, she
glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, there
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