The Hidden MansionIt was a cold Friday evening when five teenagers—Daniel, Sarah, Mike, Chloe, and Ethan—decided to explore a mansion that had been abandoned for more than twenty years.The mansion stood deep inside a forest, far away from the town. Everyone knew about it, but nobody dared to go near it. According to an old legend, a family had disappeared inside the house one night, and ever since then, strange screams could sometimes be heard coming from the forest.The teenagers didn't believe the stories.“This is going to be fun,” Mike said, holding up his flashlight.They pushed through the rusty gates and walked toward the mansion. The front door was already slightly open.Creeeeak.Sarah stopped.“Did anyone else hear that?”“It’s just the wind,” Daniel replied.They stepped inside.The air was freezing. Dust covered the furniture, and thick spiderwebs hung from the ceiling. Their footsteps echoed through the empty hallway.Suddenly, the front door slammed shut behind them.BANG!Chloe screamed.Daniel rushed back and tried to open it, but the door wouldn't move.“It's locked!”They searched for another exit. While they were looking, Ethan noticed something strange on the wall.There were five old photographs hanging in a row.Each photograph showed a teenager.Then Ethan's face went pale.“Guys…”The others turned toward him.The five teenagers in the photographs looked exactly like them.Before anyone could speak, the lights in the mansion flickered on.A deep voice whispered from upstairs.“You shouldn't have come.”They ran toward the staircase.As they climbed, they heard footsteps following them.But nobody was behind them.They reached the second floor and found a long hallway with several doors. One door slowly opened by itself.Inside was a small room filled with old newspapers.Daniel picked one up.The headline read:FIVE TEENAGERS DISAPPEAR IN FOREST MANSION.The date was twenty years earlier.Sarah began shaking.“That's impossible.”Then she noticed something written underneath the headline.THEY ALWAYS COME IN GROUPS OF FIVE.Suddenly, the door slammed shut.The room went completely dark.They screamed and pushed against the door, but something was holding it from the other side.Then they heard Mike whisper:“Guys… where's Chloe?”Nobody answered.When the lights returned, Chloe was gone.They searched every room, calling her name.Finally, they found her standing at the end of the hallway.She was facing the wall.“Chloe?” Sarah called.Chloe slowly turned around.Her eyes were completely black.She smiled.Then the lights went out again.One by one, the teenagers disappeared.Daniel tried to run downstairs, but the staircase seemed to stretch endlessly. Every time he reached the bottom, he found himself back on the second floor.Sarah locked herself inside a bedroom and called the police.Someone answered.“Help me!” she cried. “We're trapped in the mansion!”There was silence.Then the voice on the phone whispered:“We've been waiting for you.”Sarah dropped the phone.Behind her, something breathed against her neck.She slowly turned around.The room was empty.Then the bedroom mirror cracked.A pale hand reached through the glass.Sarah screamed.The next morning, the police searched the mansion after the teenagers' parents reported them missing.They found nothing.No bodies.No blood.No footprints.Only five new photographs hanging on the wall.The photographs showed Daniel, Sarah, Mike, Chloe, and Ethan standing inside the mansion.And underneath them was a message written in fresh red paint:“THE HOUSE IS HUNGRY AGAIN.”The mansion was eventually sealed off.But every few years, another group of teenagers would hear the same legend.And someone would always say:“Let's go see if it's really haunted.”None of them ever came back.

The rain began just before midnight.Amara stood beneath the narrow awning of the old hotel, watching Lagos disappear behind curtains of silver water. The streetlights blurred into golden halos, and the air smelled of wet earth, perfume, and the sea.She had promised herself she would leave.Instead, she was waiting.Then Daniel appeared.He stepped from the darkness wearing a black shirt dampened by rain, his expression calm but his eyes unmistakably fixed on her.“You stayed,” he said.Amara smiled faintly. “You came back.”“I said I would.”“You say many things.”“And you remember all of them.”She looked away.That was the problem with Daniel.He remembered everything.The first time they had met, three months earlier, she had disliked him immediately. He had been charming without trying, confident without arrogance, and far too observant. At their first dinner, he had noticed she always touched her necklace whenever she was nervous.He had noticed again tonight.His gaze dropped briefly to her fingers.“You’re doing it again.”“Doing what?”“Pretending you're not nervous.”“I’m not nervous.”“Then why are you holding your necklace?”Amara released it.Daniel smiled.She hated that smile.She loved it even more.“Come inside,” he said.She hesitated.“Why?”“Because you’re getting wet.”“I’m under the roof.”“You’re still standing close enough to the rain to pretend you have a reason not to come in.”She laughed softly.“You always have an answer.”“Only when you ask the right question.”He held out his hand.For several seconds, she stared at it.Then she took it.The First NightThe hotel room overlooked the ocean.Amara stood beside the window while Daniel poured two glasses of wine.“You planned this,” she said.“No.”“You expect me to believe that?”“I hoped you would come.”“That isn't the same thing.”“No.”He handed her a glass.Their fingers touched.Neither moved away immediately.The silence between them changed.It became heavier.More intimate.Daniel stepped closer.Amara's heartbeat quickened.“If you want me to stop,” he whispered, “say so.”She looked into his eyes.“Don't stop.”His hand gently touched her cheek.Then he kissed her.At first, it was tentative—a question rather than a demand.She answered by moving closer.The kiss deepened, and everything outside the room seemed to disappear: the rain, the traffic, the distant sound of music from the city.When Daniel pulled away, their foreheads remained together.“This is a bad idea,” Amara whispered.“Probably.”“I'm serious.”“So am I.”She smiled.Then she kissed him again.That night, the distance between them finally disappeared.The rain continued until morning.The Second NightA week later, Amara found Daniel waiting outside her office.“You're stalking me,” she said.“I prefer persistent.”“You're impossible.”“You've said that before.”“And you keep proving me right.”He opened the passenger door of his car.“Dinner?”“I have work.”“You always have work.”“Because some of us have responsibilities.”“I have responsibilities.”“Name one.”“Making sure you eat.”She laughed.“That doesn't count.”“It does to me.”They went to a quiet restaurant overlooking the water.The evening passed quickly.Afterward, they walked along the shore.Daniel removed his jacket and placed it around her shoulders.“You're cold.”“A little.”“Then stay close.”She did.When they stopped beneath a palm tree, he looked at her.“Amara.”“Yes?”“I've been thinking about you all week.”She swallowed.“So have I.”He kissed her beneath the moonlight.This time there was no hesitation.Their second night together began with laughter and ended with whispered promises neither of them was ready to explain.The Third NightTheir relationship became a secret without either of them deciding it should be.They met in quiet places.They exchanged messages late at night.Sometimes they talked for hours.Sometimes they simply sat beside each other.The third night came unexpectedly.Amara had gone to Daniel's apartment to return a book.She should have left after five minutes.Instead, they spent an hour arguing about the ending.“You completely misunderstood the character,” Daniel said.“I understood him perfectly.”“You didn't.”“I did.”“You're stubborn.”“And you're arrogant.”“I've been called worse.”“By me?”“Frequently.”She threw a cushion at him.He caught it.Then he caught her wrist when she reached for another.They both stopped laughing.The playful moment suddenly became something else.Daniel released her slowly.“Sorry.”She didn't move.“Don't be.”His eyes searched hers.“Are you sure?”“Yes.”The kiss that followed was softer than the others.There was something vulnerable about it.Something that frightened them both.Later, they lay quietly together, lis