It was summer break, early saturday morning. My family and I had traveled to Mexico to my grandparents home in Morelia, Michoacan. My mom and brothers had gone to the store to buy groceries and my grandparents had gone to work. I was alone in a big old house. It was raining outside, dark clouds covering the warm bright sun. Pale yellow paint covered the walls in the hallway.

I was watching t.v. It was so cold I had to take the blanket from my bedroom upstairs to the living room. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop on the white marble tiled floor. I hated the fact that my mind would drift off and think of the worst situations, so I put on my headphones and turned up the music until my ears were numb. I went upstairs to take a long hot shower to calm myself down.

I remember my best friend had called me while I was going up the stairs, I put her on speaker. “Dude stay on the phone with me until I get in the shower.” “Why? Are you scared…” she taunted. “No, I just hate how quiet it is in here.” She laughed. “Call you later I’m gonna hop in the sho…” suddenly I heard a loud screeching sound on the door, like if someone was scratching it with crusty long nails. It went up and down the door screeching so sharply.

“What the f- was that !?” she was still on speaker, I quickly turned down the volume because I was scared that whatever was outside was gonna hear her. I hid behind the shower curtains barefoot, the water in the tub was boiling hot “Ouch!” I shouted. I forgot to turn on the cold water. I ignored my burning toes and peeked out to see what was at the door but I saw nothing.

It screeched again, but this time it was slower. I was petrified , I felt like if I was about to get brutally murdered. I remember that my whole body was trembling in fear. Julianna was still on the phone,“Jackie what happened?” she said so blaring. I didn’t answer, I froze in horror. My mind was in shock. I didn’t know what was going on and I didn’t know what to do.

I hung up the phone and texted her, “I think someone’s messing with me or I’m really bout to die.” I called my dad to see if he was the one messing with me. He answered and said he was at the bank. My heart sunk to my stomach.

About five minutes past but it felt like hours had gone by when the hair-raising sound of the screeching finally stopped. The water was still running but I payed no mind to it. I was still puzzled by the whole situation. “This only happens in movies.” I thought.

My dad got home a little after the screeching stopped. He didn’t ask why I called or what had happened and I wasn’t going to tell him either. That night I heard the same exact sound on my bedroom door around three in the morning. By that point I was sick of it and threw my slipper at the door, It made one last screech before stopping. I was so paranoid that night. I didn’t tell a single soul about what I heard that day. I tried to convince myself that it was just something that fell because of the wind but to this day I am terrorized to stay home alone again.