Just take a look inside the closet.
That was the first-time Kiran saw her nightmares jump out on her.
Just take a look inside the closet.
That was what her little sister said to her, just before Kiran's ninth birthday. She shouldn't have thought of the horrifying man she saw in her nightmares the night before just seconds away from opening the door to encourage her little sister to believe the fact that monsters weren't real, but she did regardless. She thought of the way his eye sockets were empty, and how he was wearing both eyeballs like rings on both hand's index fingers. She thought of the lack of teeth in his mouth, and how when he opened it to give her a wide smile his tongue slipped out and landed on her dark blue shoes.
She woke up in bed just when the nightmare man jumped out on her sister and her. Kiran was quick to think it was a dream, only to have the news broken to her during breakfast that her little sister was missing and no one could find her.
Just take a look inside the closet.
She'd heard that sentence thirty-eight times (and counting) in her life. Most of the time, she didn't open look. Sixteen times, nothing happened. It was broad daylight, she was giggling with friends or her twin sister Karan, and she thought nothing of what night terrors the darkness had bestowed upon her the night before. Two of those times, she opened the closet door thinking of what her mind had conjured up to terrorize her sleep, and both times she ended up having something taken from her.
The first was her sanity. The second was her six-year-old sister.
The phrase haunted her. Followed her. It wasn't supposed to be a phrase someone heard commonly in their lives. But it was. It was worded the same way, used in the same way, and always said by someone close to her. Always those words, always near a closet, and always said by her friends and family.
"You're Kiran Montague, right? Like the Montagues from Romeo and Juliet?"
A small smile flickered across her face despite the lack of sleep Kiran had last night. She was already up for twenty-six hours straight now. Add another seven hours of ninth grade high school and she'd be a goner before she could have a chance to walk home. "That's me," she said cautiously. "And you are?"
The camera around Daniel Winter's neck was decorated in Kpop stickers from strap to the actual thing. Of course she knew his name. Everyone knew his name. He was the guy obsessed with Kpop and photography. Also known as the happy go-lucky guy everyone liked and was envious of at the same time.
"I'm Daniel Winters," he said, like that would explain the reason why he was standing in front of Kiran. He frowned. "Yeah, no. My name isn't going to tell you anything. Sorry. I'm in yearbook and was wondering if you could pose near that wall behind you so I can get something in for the seniors before they blow my head off."
The wall he was gesturing to was a sealed off wall, which meant that graffiti was spread across in all shapes, colors and sizes. There were two in the school, but this one was next to the old janitor's closet, home to most senior pranks and high school horror stories.
Kiran immediately wondered if he knew about her fear of what was behind closet doors but crossed it off. There's no way the nicest, happiest guy in all of high school could be that cruel even if he found out.
Besides, it wasn't too hard to figure it out after realizing that she avoided closets like the plague.
"Actually, I have class," Kiran said. She did, but being late didn't really matter to her. Her business in technology teacher had the rest of the class to keep in check and she had taken a liking toward Kiran. "So I can't, sorry."
She just didn't want the same line repeated to her.
Daniel pouted. "Please. It's literally a two second photo. You can just lean back against the wall. Everyone's gone already, and you're literally my only hope."
It was true. Everyone else had no business loitering the halls. The people who were skipping had left the school premises and the people who gave a thought about their education were already seating comfortably in class.
"Okay."
It was just a two-second photo, after all.
"Say cheese!" Daniel exclaimed, holding the camera to his face. He lowered it almost immediately. "Or you know what, don't. That might not look so natural. Just try to act like someone's not trying to take a picture of you."
"That's not hard at all," she muttered to herself, leaning against the wall and keeping her eyes away from the closet door two inches away from her right.
The camera flashed and before she knew it the picture was taken and Daniel was thanking her. "Thanks for the picture. They look great actually," he said in surprise, looking through the photos. "Wanna see?"
When he looked up, she was already gone.
***
"Hey wall girl!"
Kiran had come to expect Daniel Winter's voice in the middle of her walks to her locker. He always seemed interested in using her as a model for whatever new yearbook they were trying out and throwing away. For the last two months he didn't seem to know when to get the hint.
She helped him out regardless, knowing very well how seniors could be. "Camera dude," she greeted.
Her twin sister, Karan, gave him a minimal effort nod and went back to scrolling through her Instagram feed whilst laying back against a tree. Daniel spared her a glance before turning back to Kiran in question. She shook her head, asking him to leave the topic of Karan's moodiness alone.
"Mayhap I could borrow you for another picture?" he asked, cheekily grinning. His Kpop sticker collection had extended to his binder apparently. It was half-shoved in Kiran's face.
"Mayhap?"
"Apparently, it's archaic. Means possibly."
Kiran stretched her arms, almost smacking her twin sister in the face. "Where's the picture being taken this time? I have a free period so I can stick around for longer if you need me anywhere important."
Daniel seemed to think about it, and both of them had already started walking in the direction of one of the school's entrances. "We could go near one of the sealed off walls again. Maybe the one went to at the beginning of the school year- Hey before I forget," he cut himself off, "what's with your twin?"
"Karan," she reminded him, sighing. The warmth of the school made her think less clearly about her next words. "It's the anniversary of our little sister's disappearance. Also, she woke up in the middle of the night to me screaming and couldn't go back to sleep. So she's grumpy."
Concern replaced the curiosity on his features. "Screaming? Are you okay?"
She paused the conversation to go up the first flight of stairs with him before answering. "I have night terrors," Kiran told him. "They're pretty violent. Last night I dreamt of my little sister. Her face literally slipped off in front of my eyes and I looked straight at a skull with eyeballs. It was freaky as hell."
The gasp that emitted from him was enough to make Kiran rethink the entire topic. What the hell was she thinking by telling him that? He'd be next in the line of people to think she was a freak.
"That's so freaking cool. It sounds like something out of a horror movie," he said excitedly, contradicting Kiran's initial thoughts. Reaching the doors to the third floor, his face dropped and was instead showcasing deep sympathy. "I mean I'm sorry for what happened to your sister."
Kiran laughed, surprising both of them. "Actually, you made me feel better by saying that. Thanks."
The sealed off wall where they both had initially met was completely the same. The closet door itself was still shut for no one dared enter it, but this time Kiran had no uneasiness at the sight of it. Maybe it was because of the anger she held from her sister's disappearance, but if someone did dare utter those very words she would enter the closet without any hesitation.
"I just got a text from Matt," Daniel said, rolling his eyes as he looked up from his phone. "He says my camera's in the janitor's closet over there. Could you get it for me? Just take a look inside the closet."
It was as if someone had heard her and decided to put her on the track her thoughts were running on. "Right on time," Kiran voiced out loud, diving deep into her thoughts.
"Time for what?"
She headed toward the closet, placing her hand on the door knob and waited.
Was she actually going to do this?
She opened the door.
"Kristina."
Her little sister, standing the same height as she was the last time Kiran saw her and dressed in the same holiday pajamas, stood behind the door as if she was waiting. She tilted her head and looked up at Kiran, just as Daniel took a look over her shoulder.
"Holy shi-"
Kristina's face slipped to the ground.
Daniel contained his next words, but gripped Kiran's shoulder tightly.
The skull with prominent, round eyeballs jumping at her was the last thing Kiran saw before she woke up.
She sat up after a whole three seconds, still wrapped around in the two blankets that always surrounded her before realizing what had happened. Sweat lined her forehead, and her shirt was damp from both back and front.
It was a dream, Kiran told herself, sighing in relief.
Except it wasn't.
When the police showed up on Kiran's doorstep, asking if she had any information as to where Daniel Winters was, she couldn't form a coherent answer.
She'd heard that sentence thirty-nine times now. Sixteen times, she had escaped the thing behind the door. Three of those times she had something taken from her.
Just take a look inside the closet.