"You have got to be kidding me…" Rudy uttered in frustration.

  'Not going to lie, when I opened my eyes and found myself outside the house, I thought it was all a dream, but…'

  After Rudy woke up, he found himself outside the house. At first, he was happy that he finally got out of the house that could only be described as a haunted house.

  He didn't know what he did to get out of the house, but he assumed it must be because of one of the things he said. He noticed that it was already night but didn't know how much time had passed.

  He was about to leave, but he noticed something strange. He felt like he was forgetting something, and it didn't take him long to realize that he didn't have his backpack with him.

  Now, Rudy must enter the house again and get his bag. Sure, he could just leave the bag behind, but he couldn't. There were books, house keys, and a wallet in the bag.

  Books? Sure, he could leave them behind and buy or borrow new ones.

  House keys? Maybe he could leave them behind and simply tell Rebecca that he lost them somewhere.

  But his wallet? No, he couldn't leave it behind.

  It wasn't as though the money in the wallet meant more to Rudy than his life; he didn't even have more than $5 in it anyway. But there was something valuable in the wallet that Rudy couldn't leave behind.

  Rebecca told him that the wallet belonged to his father, and it was a very precious thing to him. There was also a dollar coin that belonged to his family generation and was considered a memento as well as an heirloom of his ancestors.

  It might sound stupid to risk one's life for something like that, but not for Rudy. The wallet was priceless to him, and he would even fight a demon to get it back.

  With all that said, the adrenaline rush Rudy was having had ended, and he could feel his legs growing weaker as the strength in them left his body. He felt as though his soul would vaporize at any moment if she forced him to enter the house again.

  However, Rudy had no choice.

  Rudy glanced at the other houses that looked completely different from the haunted house. He wasn't even sure if the other houses were haunted too, or perhaps the entire forest was haunted.

  Rudy gulped down and gathered his remaining strength to walk forward. But he recalled everything that had happened to him inside the house and his legs, no, his body started trembling in fear.

  He realized that he might not ever come back again from the house.

  When he thought about that, he started having second thoughts.

  'Is it truly worth risking my life over a wallet?' he asked himself. 'Surely, mom would understand if I talked to her about this.'

  Rudy then remembered what he said inside the house.

  'I promised that I won't tell anyone…'

  "But what if I tell mom that I lost the bag? That way, I won't have to tell everything to her, and I won't be hiding anything either."

  After pondering for a while, Rudy decided to leave the bag as it was. He turned around and started walking toward the only path he could see. But suddenly, he recalled the memory when Rebecca gave him the wallet.

  'She seemed so happy and sad at the same time…'

  Rudy's thoughts had become a mess. He didn't know what to do, but he knew for sure that he never wanted to see his mother sad.

  "Argh…… fuck it!"

  Rudy turned around and rushed to the house, but he stopped as soon as he stepped his foot on the porch.

  He could feel someone watching him.

  'I am getting chills!'

  Rudy didn't give in to his fears and walked to the door. He slowly moved his shaking hand to the doorknob.

  "Please forgive me. I am only here for the bag. Will leave as soon as I get my bag, I promise," he muttered with utmost sincerity in his voice.

  He turned the knob and the door opened with a loud 'CLUNK' followed by a sharp 'CLICK' noise, almost as though it was never opened for years.

  Rudy creaked and opened the door but didn't walk in. He peeked around from the doorway and spotted his bag near the kitchen's hallway.

  Rudy also checked the other things, and almost everything looked exactly the same as it did when he was standing in the hallway when he was stuck in the house.

  Rudy's gaze automatically fell on the photo frames, but he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

  'The frame that had fallen is no longer on the wall…' Rudy looked at the spot where the frame had fallen, hoping to see broken glasses, but it was neat and clean.

  'Come to think of it, what was in the photo? I remember seeing someone in the photo, but the picture was too old. It was black and white and looked distorted, so it was hard to make anything out.'

  'However, I swear I saw something moving inside the photo, and that's when I fell unconscious.'

  After exploring the house with his eyes, Rudy was forced to remember everything that happened when he was stuck inside.

  'I really don't want to go there, but the bag is right in front of my eyes!'

  Rudy calculated the number of steps he would need to reach the bag.

  'That's around seven steps. Even if I run and grab the bag, it will take me a minimum of 3 seconds to run out of the house.'

  Rudy took a deep breath and focused his gaze on the bag. Then, he exhaled sharply and ran into the house.

  STEP! STEP! STEP!

  He grabbed the bag and ran out of the house, or so he wanted to, but the door was slammed shut as soon as he turned around.

  "……"

  Rudy felt something standing behind him, but he didn't dare to look back.

  'What is this feeling?!'

  "Didn't you promise you would never come here again?" a bone-chilling, devilish voice uttered in a disdainful tone that sent shivers down Rudy's spine.