ABANDONED SPIRITS

A cold wind blew through the empty hallway.

John ran as fast as he could. Every footstep echoed through the endless corridors of the hotel.

“Help... Help...”

The voice sounded weak, frightened, and desperate.

John followed it until he reached a large wooden door at the end of the hallway.

His hand slowly reached for the handle.

Just as he was about to open it, he heard a whisper behind him.

“You should never have come here...”

John froze.

He slowly turned around.

A tall shadow stood at the other end of the hallway, completely still. It had no face... only two glowing white eyes staring directly at him.

The figure took one slow step forward.

Then another.

The whispers grew louder.

“Help us...”

“Don’t leave us...”

John tried to run, but his legs refused to move.

The shadow stretched out its hand and touched his shoulder.

John screamed.

He suddenly sat upright in his bed, breathing heavily. Sweat covered his face as he looked around his room.

“It was just a dream,” he whispered to himself.

He drank a glass of water and tried to calm down.

For a brief moment, he thought he heard someone whisper,

“Help...”

He looked around his room.

There was no one there.

He shook his head, convinced it was only his imagination.

Little did he know...

That nightmare was only the beginning.

This is the story of a boy named John, a curious and adventurous 15-year-old who lived with his parents and two sisters. He had no brothers, but he did have a best friend named Ali, who shared his love for exploring creepy and mysterious places.

Ever since John was a child, his grandmother would tell him scary bedtime stories — but there was one he never forgot. It was about a haunted hotel located not far from their home. There was something that always bothered John. Whenever his grandmother told the story of the hotel, her face filled with terror, as if she had lived through it herself. He never found the courage to ask her why, but he knew one thing for certain.

There was something terribly wrong with that story.

According to the tale, the hotel had been abandoned since 1850, and everyone who had ever stayed there had mysteriously taken their own life. No one understood why. Over time, people began to whisper that the building was cursed — filled with spirits, and anyone who entered it would leave with one of them following close behind.

That idea alone made John’s imagination run wild.

One day, he told Ali about the haunted hotel. Both boys were intrigued. They were smart, brave, and filled with a need to uncover the truth.

“We should check it out,” Ali said.

John nodded. “Let’s go tonight.”

But there was a problem — John’s parents would never let him go to a haunted hotel at night. So, he came up with a plan.

That evening, John told his parents he was going to Ali’s house for group study and would be home late. They believed him. At exactly 7:00 p.m., Ali arrived, and the two boys set out on their daring adventure.