The house next door.
Hi, my name is David. I’m going to tell you what happened a few years ago.
I was about 15 or 16 when it all happened. My parents used to travel a few times a year. They’d spend several weekends away from home, which was wonderful for a 15 year old. I was never afraid to be home alone, I actually enjoyed it. I’d invite friends over for gaming marathons, since we could stay up all night playing without anyone bothering us.
It was Saturday; my parents had left that morning. I’d already made plans with my best friend to have a sleepover at my house from Sunday to Monday, since my parents wouldn’t be back until Monday morning.
My house was big; it had a large yard in the back with a small vegetable garden. It was the last in a row of five houses, which were relatively new at the time. There was one last house separated from mine by a small road that led to another street with more houses. That house was older than ours and was going to be demolished. The window of my room faced it. I don’t know if anyone lived there, because I never saw any sign of life coming from there.
When night fell, I got ready for bed because I was looking forward to the next day. I remember calling my parents; they had already arrived at the place where they were going to spend the weekend. I made dinner and got ready for bed.
I went into the bedroom and put on my pajamas, which were just a pair of simple shorts. I left the balcony window slightly open; it was summer and the heat was unbearable, it was almost impossible to sleep with the window closed. I turned off the lights and went to sleep.
I woke up in the middle of the night to a glow coming through my window. I was confused at first; I thought it was sunrise. When I checked my phone, it was almost 4 a.m. I then thought it might be a car, parked right in front of my house. I got up and peeked out the window. When I peeked through the curtain, I saw that the light was coming from that house. I got closer and saw some kind of ritual; they were divided into three or four parallel rows, all dressed in black with large torches in their hands. I then moved a little closer to see what they were doing, when suddenly they all looked at me. My heart was racing; I froze. I quickly closed the window and locked my bedroom door. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming or something like that.
I stayed in my room until dawn, then called my parents and my best friend, who was on his way over. I opened the window just a crack and looked out, but there was no one there, no trace, nothing… I know what I saw, and I’ll never forget that night.
Today the house no longer exists; it’s been turned into a pharmacy, but even after that, I never felt comfortable looking at that place again.
Sometimes the places that make us feel safest are the ones that hide the most dangers