Sungjong exhaled heavily when he finally arrived at his home.  He was soaked from the pouring rain and annoyed that his parent’s never picked him up from the mall.  He unlocked the door but pulled his hand back when he touched the incredibly cold doorknob.

“Why is it so cold?” he said to himself as he quickly turned the knob and walked inside.  It was freezing and the house was dead silent.  His breath turned into white puffs as he looked around.  Everything looked exactly how it did before he left, but it felt…wrong.  Something was off about this situation, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Mom… dad… you home!?” he called out.  His voice echoed up the stairwell, but there was no answer.  He knew that their cars were outside… so they couldn’t have left.  He needed to find out what was going on.  He climbed the stairs and as he was about to go into his parents’ room, he noticed something odd… the door at the end of the hallway was opened.  It had never been opened as long as they’d lived in the house; the seller req

uested that they keep it closed.

“Why would they open this door?” he wondered as he approached the room.  He noticed a box full of holiday decorations.  His dad must’ve needed a new place to put them.  He closed the door and turned around… to see a young boy standing in front of him.  He gasped and his heart rate picked up.

“H-how did you get in here!” Sungjong demanded. 

“Found you…” the boy whispered.

He opened his mouth and blood poured from it.  Sungjong screamed and squeezed his eyes shut.  When he opened them, the boy was gone.  He looked around anxiously, trying to find any clue as to where the boy went.  He picked up a vase to use as a weapon before he crept down the hallway.

“Come out you bastard!” Sungjong yelled as he looked around the corner and down the stairs.  He could hear a faint groaning sound coming from the living room.  He tightened his grip on the vase and tip toed down the steps.  As soon as his feet touched the living room floor he closed his eyes and started swinging the vase wildly, trying desperately to hit his unseen target.  When he opened his eyes he realized that there was no one there.

“What the hell is going on here?” He whispered to himself.  He rubbed his nose, which had now gone numb due to the low temperature, as he pulled out his cell phone.  He was going to call his parents… but his phone had no service.  He rubbed his forehead in frustration for a moment, and then he decided to try to make the call outside.  Sungjong turned the doorknob, but it wouldn’t open.  He pulled on it harshly, but it still refused to open.  He kicked the door and crossed his arms.  He had been pouting and contemplating his next move for about thirty seconds, when he heard the groaning sound again.  He gasped as he saw a strange shadow, moving slowly outside the window.  For a moment he thought it was one of his parents… but the more he looked at it, he realized it didn’t even look human.  He picked up the vase again; preparing for a fight.

When the doorknob started to turn, Sungjong chickened out, dropped the vase, and took off running up the stairs, locking himself in the small hallway closet.  He heard slow, heavy footsteps outside the door and his lip trembled in fear. 

“No need to hide thyself, we are not thy enemy,” said a low, raspy voice.  Even though he was alone in the closet, the voice sounded as if it was whispering in Sungjong’s ear.  Despite the seemingly good intentions, Sungjong refused to leave his hiding place.  He waited for what seemed like an eternity before he worked up the courage to open the door.

He peered out into the dark hallway, not knowing what to expect.  As soon as he stepped out he was forcefully slammed into the wall.  His eyes widened in terror as a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness in front of him.  His scream was trapped in his throat as a strong force pulled his leg and dragged him down the hall toward the unused room.

Sungjong clawed at the floor, trying desperately to find something to hold on to.  His scream pierced the air as he got closer to the door.  When he was pulled through the door the temperature dropped again, it felt like his skin was freezing.

Sungjong let out one last desperate cry for help before everything around him faded into darkness.

Two Weeks Later

Sunggyu stepped out of his car and sighed… these disappearance cases always , but this one was a little different.  Usually it was only one family member, most often a little kid, but this time it was an entire family.  He saw his partner, Woohyun, standing in front of the house, talking to someone.

“Sunggyu, it’s good that you’re here.  This is Sungyeol, he’s the previous owner of this house.  I thought that he may be able to shed some light on what happened… but he seems to be convinced that this case has supernatural origins,” Woohyun said, rolling his eyes.

“It’s true!  There’s a room upstairs, the last door in the hallway!  It’s evil, I swear it!  I told them not to open it, but they didn’t listen and now they’re gone!  That room is the gateway to hell!” Sungyeol hysterically rambled.

“Calm down… we’ll go inside and check it out,” Sunggyu replied.

“You can’t! No one can go into that house now that the door has been opened!”

“Listen, my partner and I are trained investigators… I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Woohyun assured him as they walked inside.  Sungyeol just stared as the door closed behind them.

“Watch out, there’s some broken glass on the floor here… that’s sad, looks like a nice vase,” Sunggyu said.  The two of them ascended the stairs and walked down the hallway.

“Is it cold in here, or is it just me?” Woohyun asked.  Sunggyu shrugged as they walked into the room, which was completely empty except for some boxes of decorations.

“That’s weird…” Sunggyu mumbled.

“What?”

“My phone doesn’t have any reception,”

“Mine either,”

Soon a faint groaning sound could be heard as the door slammed shut, trapping Sunggyu and Woohyun inside…