LatinosUSA

Candace Wielding tried many times to convince her ailing grandmother, Maggie, to sell the family-owned farm. Over the last several years, it was more of a financial drain than a welcoming home.

Yet here she stood, one month after the passing of her last relative, in front of the deteriorating and crumbling structure. A slight shiver ran down her spine. She looked up at the dirty windows above. For a moment, she thought someone was watching her.

She exhaled as she carefully climbed the rotted steps onto the sagging wooden porch. The weather-beaten house screamed of neglect and disrepair.

Candace turned the worn key. With a slight nudge of her shoulder, the door opened in protest. The stale air greeted her. Dingy flower wallpaper barely covered the wooden beams.

It was quite some time since she last stepped inside the dilapidated house.

Worn shades darkened the creepy room. Once again, Candace shivered. A shuffle within the walls startled her. She turned around just in time to see a ghostly face peering through the rotted beams.

“What the…?” Candace stumbled backward. The door slammed shut. A gasp escaped her quivering lips.

“Hello? Is…is anyone there?” she squeaked. Her heart pounded within her chest. Sweat lined her brows. The eerie room felt as if it were slowly closing in around her.

A childish giggle seeped through the walls.

Candace’s breath quickened. She needed to get out.

Candace stepped to the closed door. She yanked and pulled, but it did not matter. She was locked inside with the secret in the wall. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the beckoning darkness.

Loud scurrying noises traveled throughout the walls. Her head swiveled in all directions.

And then she saw it again. Its face was ghostly white. The oblong head tilted to the side. Lifeless black orbital sockets peered into her soul.  

“What…what…do you want?” Candace trembled. Her throat suddenly parched. She jerked the cell phone from her pocket to call for help. But there was no cell service.

“I want…you!” cackled a raspy voice.

Instantly, she shone the phone’s light toward the creature hidden inside the walls. Its piercing shriek penetrated her skull.

Candace knew she had to get out of this terrible place. How could her grandmother live here for so many years with this horrendous secret hiding deep within the walls of her home?

She willed her wobbly legs to move. The front door was her only escape. Somehow, she had to get it open.

But before she could try again, the sudden impact was hard and deliberate, knocking the wind from her lungs. Candace gasped for air as she lay on her stomach.

A putrid odor loomed above. She felt the presence of evil near the side of her face. She clenched her teary eyes. And before the darkness slipped in and consumed her inner being, a tiny voice whispered a single word into her ear—peekaboo.