The House That Calls Your Name

Jake had always been a skeptic. Ghost stories, urban legends—he didn’t believe in any of it. So when his friend dared him to spend a night in the abandoned house on Blackwood Lane, he laughed.

"Piece of cake," he said.

The house had been empty for decades. No one knew why. Some said a family had vanished inside. Others claimed they still roamed the halls. But Jake wasn’t afraid of myths.

At sunset, he stepped inside. The air was thick, heavy. Dust swirled in the fading light. The floorboards groaned under his weight.

"Just one night," he reminded himself.

He set up his sleeping bag in the living room. As he looked around, he noticed something odd—the house was in perfect condition. No broken furniture, no graffiti. It was as if someone had just left.

Then he heard it.

A voice.

"Jake."

His stomach twisted. His friends were outside, far away. The voice had come from inside the house.

He grabbed his flashlight and followed the sound. The hallway stretched longer than he remembered. The air grew colder. He turned a corner—and stopped.

A door stood at the end of the hall.

A door that hadn’t been there before.

The voice called again.

"Jake, come in."

His hands trembled. He reached for the handle. It was ice-cold. Slowly, he pushed it open.

Inside was a small, dimly lit room. A single chair sat in the center, facing the wall. But that wasn’t the worst part.

The walls were covered in names.

Hundreds of them. Scratched deep into the wood. Some fresh, some faded. And at the very bottom, a new one was appearing—letter by letter.

J. A. K. E.

The chair creaked.

Jake ran.

He sprinted down the hall, but the house had changed. The door to the outside was gone. The walls stretched higher. The whispers grew louder.

"Stay with us."

The floorboards cracked beneath his feet. He turned, gasping, and saw them—figures, shadows with hollow eyes, watching, waiting.

He clawed at the wall, searching for an exit. His fingers bled. The house groaned like it was breathing.

Then—silence.

The sun rose.

His friends returned to find the house exactly as they had left it.

Except now, inside the hall, at the bottom of the list of names…

J A K E.

And a new voice whispering.

Waiting for the next one.