The forest was unusually silent that afternoon—as if every creature had agreed to vanish at the same time. Even the wind was still. No rustling leaves, no chirping birds, nothing but the sound of our boots crushing damp soil as we walked deeper into the woods.
We were six friends—Aiden, Mira, Jonas, Leah, Ryan, and me.
every time we friends plan to go on a trip but it never happened as one of us will have some family problems or health issues but this time we don't have any problems so all agreed to go. After months of planning this trek, we wanted adventure… but the forest had other ideas.
I remember looking up. The sky, once a pale blue, had begun to fade into an ash-grey color, thick clouds piling on each other like bruises spreading across the heavens.
"Guys… does that look normal to you?" Mira whispered, slowing down.
It didn't.
But no one wanted to be the first to admit it.
Ryan laughed, trying to brush away the tension. "Relax, it's just clouds. Weather changes."
Yet only moments later, the first gust of wind slammed against us so violently that Mira stumbled. What had been a silent forest suddenly became a riot of movement—branches thrashing, leaves flying, the air turning ice-cold in seconds.
"Storm!" Aiden shouted. "We need shelter—NOW!"
Thunder cracked—so loud it felt like the sky had split open. And then, without warning, the rain came. Not in drops… but in buckets. Heavy. Brutal. Each hit felt like tiny stones pelting our skin.
We ran.
Water splashed everywhere, the muddy path turning slippery. Trees blurred past us. The storm was chasing us—no, it was herding us.
As if guiding us somewhere. As we ran through the midst of the woods we all fell that as if we were forced to ran in a track unable to go out of the line.
I don't know how long we running before Leah screamed, "LOOK!"
Through the thick sheets of rain stood a structure—a massive silhouette in the distance.
A mansion.
Old. Dark. And very out of place in the middle of the woods.
Its windows were tall and narrow, like watching eyes. The balcony railings were rusted. Ivy crawled over the walls like veins. And its front doors—two giant wooden slabs—seemed to wait for us.
" Guys don't you feel this Mansion look so scary as in the horror movie." I said but we all were unable to stain in this rain even a minute more.
"We'll die if we stay out here!" Jonas yelled.
So we ran toward the mansion, desperate and soaked.
The moment our feet touched the front steps, the rain lessened—as if the storm itself paused to see what we would do next.
We grabbed the handle. Surprisingly, the door creaked open on its own…
A cold draft swept out.
Not a normal cold.
A cold that seeped into the bones, like the breath of something ancient.
No one said a word.
We entered.
The interior was huge. High ceilings. A chandelier that hung low enough to catch the light of our flashlights. Dusty portraits lined the walls—portraits of people whose eyes seemed to follow us.
Our breathing echoed in the hall.
The moment the last person stepped inside—
SLAM!
The doors shut behind us with such force that the floorboards trembled.
"Who closed it?" Mira gasped.
No one had touched it.
And that was the first moment I felt it—
We were not alone.
Aiden ran back to the door, pulling the handles. "It's locked! It won't even move!"
Ryan helped him, but the door didn't budge an inch.
"Guys…" Leah whispered, pointing her flashlight to the ceiling. "Look."
The chandelier was trembling.
Not swinging—
trembling, like something had brushed against it.
My heart hammered.
"Let's find another exit," Jonas said, trying to sound rational. His voice cracked.
We moved deeper into the hall. Our shoes left wet prints on the dusty floor. The air smelled rotten… like something had died here long ago.
At the center of the hall sat a long carpet leading to a staircase that spiraled upward into the darkness.
A staircase… that seemed to breathe.
"Do you feel that?" Mira asked. "The air… it's moving."
I did feel it.
A slow inhale.
A slow exhale.
As if the house itself was alive.
Lightning flashed outside, filling the hall with white light through the stained glass windows. For a fraction of a second, I saw a shadow at the top of the stairs.
A tall figure.
Still.
Watching.
But when the lightning faded, it was gone.
"Did—did you guys see that?" I whispered.
No one answered.
Not because they didn't hear me…
but because they had seen it too.
Aiden swallowed hard. "Stay together. Don't go anywhere alone."
We continued deeper into the mansion.
Every door we passed creaked open slightly… without us touching it. Every portrait seemed to turn its head a little when we weren't looking. The air grew colder with every step.
Then we heard it.
A whisper.
So soft I thought it was my imagination.
But then—
"Don't leave…"
My blood ran cold.
"That came from upstairs," Ryan said quietly.
"No," Mira hissed. "It came from behind us."
We spun around.
Flashlights shaking.
Nothing.
Just the empty hall.
And then the lights flickered.
One by one, the chandeliers and wall lamps sputtered to life—without electricity, without reason.
The mansion lit itself.
I noticed something then.
Every lamp illuminated a different hallway.
Each hallway seemed to be… inviting us.
"Aiden…" I whispered. "This house… it wants us to choose."
He didn't get the chance to respond, because a sudden scream ripped through the hall.
Leah's scream.
She was gone.
One second she had been right behind me—
the next, her flashlight lay spinning on the floor, its beam pointing at an open doorway.
"LEAH!" Jonas yelled.
He ran toward the doorway, but the door slammed shut instantly.
Locked.
We banged on it, shouting, crying, calling her name.
No answer.
Then—
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Something hit the door…
from the inside.
We backed away slowly.
I realized something horrifying.
The mansion didn't trap us by accident.
It selected us.
One by one.
Room by room.
Soul by soul.
And Leah…
was only the beginning.