The wind beat against the windows and the huge house creaked like an old nut shell, it seemed that at any moment it would collapse like a castle of cards. Outside the wind was turning wilder increasingly. Inside, Mr. and Mrs. Parker and Paula had a soup for dinner in the kitchen, and absolute silence predominated, a forced silence. Her uncle looked at her out of the corner of his eye, chewing his bread with the mouth open and paid special attention when Paula put some white pills in her mouth.

"These are the medicines that doctor Rush prescribed me," Paula said uncomfortably, almost with the urgent need to excuse herself.

Mrs. Parker exchanged a quick look with her husband that did not go unnoticed by the girl. However, she didn't say anything, that strange attitude made her nervous.

"Are they to help you sleep?" asked her aunt after a prolonged silence.

"Pills?" asked confused.

Her aunt nodded, she seemed anxious, restless...

"Yes."

Paula was surprised by the obvious question, she supposed that Dr. Rush had talked to them about her treatment, or at least they should be aware of the most important thing. However she did not want to touch the subject, she still hated to talk about her stay in the psychiatric hospital, because it was enough to name it, to people call her crazy and be afraid of her.

"You're very lucky! Apparently tonight will be noisy," said her aunt, forcing a smile on her face.

Paula just smiled. His uncle continued drinking the soup as if there was nothing in the world more important. He had spoken in front of her no more than twelve words that day and seemed to avoid it.

The girl again perceived that strange look between them and she felt uncomfortable. She had had enough, so she placed the spoon on the plate, pushing it away.

"Do you want more, honey?" said aunt parker with kindness.

"No, thanks."

"Do you like it? Here we live in a simple way," said the Mrs Parker.

"Yes, aunt, is very tasty," said Paula and the woman smiled, this time more genuinely.

"That makes me happy," the woman whispered pleased and continued drinking the soup.

Suddenly, her husband dropped the spoon on the plate, making a thunderous noise, he got up from the seat and, without saying anything else, left the kitchen. Paula was startled by the noise, and looked at him. She was surprised. His wife looked at him with a frown but only dared to speak when he left the room.

"Don't worry!" the woman whispered to Paula, caressing her hand.

Then Mrs. Parker left the kitchen behind her husband, leaving Paula confused and alone with her thoughts. It was evident that her uncle didn't want her at home, but Paula could not understand what caused him that reaction of anger.

She waited for a long time for the woman to return, but since she didn't do it, she started doing the dishes. When she finished with the crockery, Mrs. Parker returned.

"Sorry, honey, you didn't have to do the dishes," she said when she saw her.

"Don't worry, aunt! It's the least I can do for you," Paula said drying the last plate, to place it on top of the others.

"Do you want some tea or coffee?" said the woman, helping her with the job.

"Oh no, thank you!"

Then there was a brief moment of silence while Paula wondered if it would be wise to ask her about the angry reaction of Mr. Parker, or if she had offended him, but she just said:

"I will go to bed. Today has been a long day for me."

"Oh, of course."

"Do you care about it?"

"Don't! Of course not," said the woman kindly.

Then Paula kissed her aunt on the cheek and went to her room. As she walked down the corridor, she noticed that Mr. and Mrs. Parker's room was a little open. Her uncle was there, watching her. When the man realized that she had looked at him, he slapped the door hard. The girl was surprised and, scared, ran to her own room.

When she entered, she sighed with relief and tried to lock the door but she saw that the key was not on the door handle. She remembered that earlier she had seen a key there. Then she frowned suspiciously, but after thinking about it for a long time, she was not really sure she had seen a key, so she did not care.

She took off her slippers and placed them next to the bed, then she undressed and put on her old white nightgown of always, thinking that she should buy a new one as soon as she had money. She didn't like that garment to wear because it had been given it in the psychiatric hospital when she arrived and it brought back bad memories, especially the memory of the accident, when her life changed completely. However, she had nothing else to wear, so she had to settle.

After arriving at the parker's house, what remained of the day was spent with her aunt, chatting about the family past they had in common Paula felt more comfortable afterwards, besides the woman was kind and she reminded her a bit of her mother, but when it got dark and Mr. Parker arrived, his wife fell silent, she started to prepare dinner and did not talk anymore. Paula noticed the fear in her aunt's eyes when Mr. Parker arrived. That was a weird man.

Paula was standing in front of her bed, about to sleep, trying to assimilate the change when the light of the lamp began to blink. Suddenly the light went out, submerging the room in absolute darkness. She jumped into bed and hurt her ankle. Since childhood she hated darkness.

"Auch! Great!" whispered with irony to herself.

Her first night there was beginning, with that huge house creaking and without light.

She went to bed quickly and covered her head. After five minutes she got angry with herself. She was acting like a girl!

Paula tried to sleep and began to feel that the dream was coming, because of the tiredness or the pills she had just taken. She was about to fall asleep when a frightful noise made her jump. She opened her eyes, surprised and saw the door of the room slowly open. Her heart was beating fast, she saw an intense light that seeped in through the crack and blinded her.

"Excuse me, honey. Were you already asleep?" said Mrs. Parker. She had a candlestick with a candle in her hand. "The light has gone."

"Oh yeah!" she babbled a little puzzled and annoyed. Of course he had realized that there was no electric light. That woman almost caused her a heart attack.

"Surely the switches that are in the basement jumped. Your uncle will fix them tomorrow with the light of day," explained the woman. She wore a long nightgown with polka dots and braided hair. "It would be better if you did not wander around the house."

"Oh, no! Of course not," she answered surprised.

Then the woman left the room, closing the door behind her. Paula was thinking, angry. Of course she wouldn't hang around the house, at night and without light. What the hell happened to the Parkers? Did they think she was going to steal them? She started to feel uncomfortable again ... she was not welcome there and she knew it.

It's took a long time to fall asleep, she didn't stop tossing and turning in bed, worried, she didn't trust those people, she was afraid that they would enter her room again while she was sleeping, but then she got angry with herself. It could not be possible that her aunt, her mother's sister was able of hurting her! She was falling victim to her own terror. She spent a long time until she managed to calm down and fall asleep.

"Paula! Paula! Paula!"

She moved on the bed, still asleep.

"Paula, wake up!"

The girl woke up suddenly, a little confused, turned around and found the face of a person, only centimeters from hers.

"Ahhhhh!" she screamed in terror.

"Oh, quiet!" said the woman when Paula screamed.

Aunt parker was standing beside her bed in the middle of the darkness.

"What a Fuc.....? What's going on?" said Paula while her heart recovered the normality of its beats.

"I'm sorry I woke you up, honey," said the woman in a sweet voice. "I forgot to tell you not to use the bathroom above It's broken. Use the one below, but do not wander around the house, your uncle would not like it."

"It's okay," said the girl.

Paula, surprised, saw her aunt leave the room, closing the door behind her. What happened to this woman? Did she intend to kill her with a fright? She didn't understand how she had thought to wake her up in the middle of the night just to tell her not to use the bathroom and to warn her again not to wander around the house. Why didn't she wait until the next day?

Paula took the wristwatch she left on the night table and looked at the time: 2: 57 it was almost three in the morning. Already annoyed she lay down to try to fall asleep again. Then she heard them again ... a few steps coming from the corridor. Paula moved on the bed and tried to hear better. The noise of the wind produced strange whistles, however, he again heard those steps clearly... they were little steps that came to her room, stopping in front of her door. She saw how the door was half open, so she thought it was her aunt again.

"And now what happens, aunt?" said already in a bad way. But nobody answered, there was only silence interrupted by the roar of the wind.

"Aunt?" Paula said as she got up on the bed.

She could not see well because of the darkness, her door was still ajar and she began to feel that she was being watched. Paula was sure there was someone standing there.

"Uncle?" said Paula this time.

Suddenly the door of the room opened a few more inches and Paula, terrified could not move even a muscle. She realized that through the gap between the frame and the door the darkness was more intense. It was as if someone very small was there, standing, watching her. She didn't notice any movement, so after a while, she began to think that she was imagining things.

After almost a minute, Paula regained the mobility of her body, so she walked towards the door. She opened it completely and looked towards the corridor... There was no one there, everything was absolutely calm, and then, she closed the door and locked it with an old chair she found in the room.

She went back to bed, but fear didn't leave her that night, her mind worked tirelessly to find a solution for what happened, she could swear that someone had been there, watching her. Nothing of what she imagined then, gave her a rational explanation for what happened. Paula had not been wrong...

She soon guessed than one of the Parker's (although this hypothesis was less likely in his aunt) that one of the parker's (although this hypothesis was less likely in her aunt) had gotten out of bed in the middle of the night to observe her. Then she decided to ask Mrs. Parker for a key, so she could close the room with the excuse that she needed privacy. Paula prayed that the woman would not get angry.

It was dawning and the wind had calmed down a lot when she finally managed to fall asleep.

She had not heard more weird sounds. Then, with the passing of the hours, she consoled herself with the idea that she had imagined everything; maybe the door had opened with the wind. However she wanted to get the key to the room, she didn't want to have another night like that again.