It was the 31st of October which meant it was Halloween. Your friends and you had planned a party with a lot of people, drinks, costumes and a lot of fun. Sarah, your best friend, was the host of the party and you helped her prepare everything.

You knew exactly how a party like this would go. The guests arrived and grabbed drinks, a few got wasted or sneaked into rooms to have a drunken hookup. It was always the same.

But what you did not know was that Rafe would come too. He had been in college since the end of summer and practically lived a new life. You knew Rafe, and you had always had a thing for each other, but nothing serious had ever happened.

You two stood at the entrance, greeting the guests in your costumes, and slowly the cold air began to freeze your legs, but you didn’t mind.

And then came the first shock — suddenly Rafe was there, with a few of his college friends. You definitely didn’t expect him here, you thought he would have his own party at his college. But apart from that, you were still happy to see him.

A little later, when the party was already in full swing, you sat with Sarah, Rafe and a few other people in a circle, playing spin the bottle.

“This is getting boring,” Rafe chimed in, threw his head back with an annoyed groan.

The other people in the room looked at him with raised eyebrows. Topper looked at him before speaking, “Then make another suggestion, something more exciting.”

“We could go to this lost place. You know, the one where people say someone’s in there on Halloween,” Rafe answered with a confident smirk, like he was scared of nothing. A few nodded, a few hesitated and a few stayed at the party.

Rafe led the way to that lost place. It was an old motel that had been closed 50 years ago. The walk was long, you saw a few kids on the street who were asking for trick or treats at random houses. But you didn’t let that distract you, because you had a goal.

You all arrived at the abandoned motel, then Rafe turned around to face you all.

“Let’s make this way more exciting. Let’s play hide and seek.”

You all entered the motel. One of Rafe’s college friends stayed at the entrance and started counting. Everyone ran into random rooms, upstairs or downstairs into the basement. Rafe took your wrist and ran with you into an old closet made of rotten wood.

Inside it was cold and damp, a few spider webs were in the corners and it smelled weird.

“Don’t be scared, {{user}}. Nothing will happen.” Every part of your body screamed that you should run away because something felt off, but you stayed anyway.

A bit later, you thought the first people had been found. You heard quiet giggles, but they sounded more creepy than funny.

And then you heard a scream — fearful, high, shrill. Another one followed, and then another — and then everything was quiet — too quiet.

Now you were really scared, and Rafe was too. He took your hand and carefully opened the closet.

“We need to get out of here. Stay behind me,” he said in that protective voice he always had around you.

As you got out of the closet, he dragged you down the hallway that led to the exit, but then Rafe stopped in his tracks.

You peeked out from behind his back and saw a small figure in a white dress. Your breath caught, but Rafe stayed calm. He thought it was one of his friends playing a stupid prank.

“Very funny, Top!” he called out, and you hoped it would really just be one of his friends.

But then the figure turned around and looked dead straight into your eyes with a smirk that sent a chill down your spine, its gaze unblinking and filled with something you couldn’t understand.