The Girl in the Wallpaper

Okay, so imagine this: you're spending the weekend at your cousin’s old house, the kind with squeaky stairs, dusty windows, and those weird old wallpapers that look like someone painted them a hundred years ago.

That’s where it all started for Liam.

He thought it would just be another boring visit. But instead, he met the girl in the wallpaper.

This story? It’s creepy. It’s real weird. And it’ll definitely make you think twice before sleeping in a room with old wallpaper.

Chapter 1: A Weekend at Aunt May’s
Liam was 11, and he hated going to Aunt May’s. Not because she was mean—she was actually super nice. But her house? Total creep zone. It was built in the 1800s, had a cellar that groaned, and the halls always smelled like dusty books and cinnamon.

His cousin Ellie lived there too, and she loved it. She said things like, “This house has character,” and, “The walls tell stories if you listen.”

Liam thought she was being dramatic. But she wasn’t wrong. Not even a little.

Chapter 2: The Room With the Red Wallpaper
When Liam got there that Friday, Aunt May said, “You’ll sleep in the Red Room.”

That sounded kind of cool… until he saw it.

The wallpaper was deep red, almost like dried ketchup (or, as he later thought… blood). It was full of swirling vines and little flowers, but if you looked really close, the pattern also showed tiny faces. Not smiley emoji faces. Weird, stretched-out ones. Some looked surprised. Others scared.

“I hate this,” Liam whispered as he dropped his backpack.

But that night, the room had other plans.

Chapter 3: She Was Already Watching
At first, Liam thought it was just his imagination. The wallpaper looked… different in the dark. Like the vines were moving. Like one of the tiny faces was closer than before.

Then, around midnight, he heard a soft sound.

Like scratching.

He sat up, heart racing. “Ellie?” he whispered.

No answer. Just scratching. Soft, but steady. Coming from inside the wall.

He tiptoed to the spot behind the bed where the scratching was loudest. He touched the wall.

It was cold.

And then…

A pair of eyes opened.

Not like a hole. Not like a drawing. Real eyes. In the wall.

Liam gasped and fell backward.

And the face in the wall smiled.

Chapter 4: The Girl with the Black Eyes
The next morning, Liam ran to Ellie and told her everything. She didn’t laugh.

Instead, she looked worried.

“You saw her?” she whispered. “The girl?”

“What girl?”

“She’s been in this house since before I was born. I think she used to be real. But something happened. She… melted into the wall.”

“That’s not possible,” Liam said, even though his stomach felt heavy.

“I call her Vera,” Ellie said. “I think she’s lonely. But sometimes… she gets mad.”

Liam didn’t want to hear more. But of course, he did.

Chapter 5: Don’t Make Her Angry
Ellie took him to the attic. Dusty boxes. Spiderwebs. Old trunks. She opened a small wooden chest with her initials carved into the side.

Inside were drawings. Dozens of them.

They were all pictures of Vera.

Black eyes. Tangled hair. Stitched mouth. And vines—twisting around her body like they were growing out of her.

“I see her in my dreams sometimes,” Ellie said. “She whispers secrets. She knows things no one should.”

“Like what?”

“She told me Grandma didn’t die from falling down the stairs. She says Grandma tried to leave the house. Vera didn’t like that.”

Liam’s skin turned cold.

“This house needs people,” Ellie added quietly. “So it keeps them.”

Chapter 6: The Hidden Room
That night, Liam couldn’t sleep. He tried not to look at the wall. Tried not to hear the whispers.

But the girl… she kept calling his name.

“Liiiaaam…”

He sat up. “What do you want?!”

“Find me,” she whispered.

“Where?”

The vines on the wallpaper shifted. One moved toward the corner of the room… and stopped.

Liam grabbed a flashlight, tiptoed over, and knocked on the wall.

Thud. Thud. Hollow.

He pressed both hands on it—and part of the wallpaper crumbled like ash.

Behind it?

A tiny wooden door. No knob. Just a small latch.

Chapter 7: Inside the Walls
Liam waited until everyone was asleep. Then, flashlight in hand, he opened the door.

Behind it was a crawlspace. Barely big enough for a kid. He climbed inside.

The walls were lined with old paper dolls. Hundreds of them, pinned up like trophies. Some had names written under them: Molly, George, Rachel, Danny…

At the end of the crawlspace was a mirror.

Cracked.

Covered in dust.

He wiped it clean.

And in the reflection… he saw her.

Not behind him. Not beside him.

Inside the mirror.

“Help me,” she whispered. “Pull me out.”

He almost did.

But then—he saw something move behind her. A shadow with too many arms. And suddenly her voice changed.

From “help me” to “STAY WITH ME.”

Chapter 8: The Final Escape
Liam crawled backward, heart racing, flashlight shaking.

The crawlspace started closing. The wallpaper vines crept in behind him like fingers.

“Liam!” It was Ellie. She had followed him.

She reached in, grabbed his wrist, and yanked him out just before the door slammed shut on its own.

The wall sealed up again. Like it had never opened.

They didn’t sleep that night.

Chapter 9: The Truth Comes Out
The next morning, they told Aunt May everything. She listened quietly.

Then she said, “That girl was real. Vera was my sister.”

Liam and Ellie stared.

“She disappeared when I was your age. No one believed me when I said she got trapped in the walls. But I saw it happen.”

“Why didn’t you leave?” Ellie asked.

Aunt May smiled sadly. “Because if I did… she’d come with me.”

They moved out a week later.

The Red Room was sealed shut.

And the house was sold to a new family.

Chapter 10: She’s Still Watching
Liam never saw Vera again.

But sometimes, when he closes his eyes at night, he sees wallpaper.

Red. Twisting vines. Tiny faces.

And in the center…

A pair of black eyes.

Still watching.

Still waiting.