The Door My Wife Told Me Never to Open

After moving into their new house, Ethan noticed a small locked door beneath the staircase. His wife, Hannah, immediately told him never to open it. She claimed it was an old storage cupboard, but she became unusually nervous whenever he mentioned it. Months passed until one evening Ethan found the key hidden inside Hannah's jewellery box. He waited until she was asleep and unlocked the door. Behind it was a narrow room containing dozens of objects from their marriage—his wedding ring, their honeymoon photographs, his childhood watch, and letters he had never written. At the back of the room was a large wooden box. Inside was a photograph of Ethan and Hannah standing outside their house. The date printed underneath was twenty years in the future. Ethan heard Hannah screaming from upstairs. He ran toward the bedroom, but stopped when he heard another voice coming from inside the locked room. His own voice whispered, “Ethan… don't let her find you.” Then Hannah appeared at the top of the stairs holding the key. She looked terrified. “You opened it,” she whispered. “Now it knows you're here.”

The Wife Who Never Slept