My family and I aren’t wealthy, so our house was small compared to the others next to us. Ours had a big patch of grass and azalea flowers on our front porch. The wood planks were creaky from being old, and the curtains hanging from the ceiling fluttered in the wind. Our house wasn’t the best, but it was better than nothing.
When we bought the house from our landlord, they said they had one rule; never open the closet in the corner of our living room. They never explained why, no matter how much we asked or bribed.
Our neighborhood was rural, with a small school half a mile away. I am an only child, but I do have one friend. His name is Daniel. He was tall, skinny, red-haired, and always had a mischievous smile. He lives in the house next to mine, which was just a little bigger than ours. My parents worked at a small store a few miles away, so when we finished school, we would always play in his yard with a soccer ball and make-shift goals out of two sticks on the ground.
Daniel kicks the ball in the goal as I groan in defeat. I lie down, tired, and look over at Daniel. He chuckles.
“You’ve gotta do more defense, man. You can’t just let me run by.” He reached out a hand. “C’mon, get up.”
“You’re better than me, and I’m scared of tripping.” I protested as Daniel pulled me up.
“Scaredy cat!” Daniel teased. I pouted.
“Hey, I’m not the one who doesn’t want to take a peek in the closet!” Daniel paled at the words and leaned closer. He looked around to ensure no one was nearby and focused his eyes on me.
“Rumor has it that whoever lives in your house becomes rich, but with a curse. No one knows what the curse is.” He says under a creepy whisper, grinning. “As quickly as the person found out about the closet, they went insane and were never found again.”
I must have looked horrified when he looked at my face and started laughing.
“Well, it’s just a rumor, though, right?” I said hopefully.
“No, the last family there were the Bellows, and they didn’t last long there.” He warned.
“Uh, let’s continue soccer,” I said, shaken.
We played for another hour until my dad called me back home.
“How was your day?” He asked while pouring water.
“It was fine; we didn’t do much today,” I said, staring at the closet, thinking about what Daniel had said. My dad noticed where I was looking and followed my gaze to the closet.
“Don’t worry about it. Nothing bad will happen if we don’t touch it.” He reassured me.
I finished my dinner and headed to my room, still thinking about the closet. I did my usual nightly routine and laid down in my bed. I dreamt about the riches in the closet; then, a curse laid upon me. I woke up the following day, ate scrambled eggs for breakfast, and headed to school after saying goodbye to my parents. I caught up with Daniel, who left his house at the same time I left mine.
“What’s up, Daniel?” I said.
“Do you want to go to the closet today when your parents aren’t home?” he asked. I looked ahead, thinking about the consequences and the rumors. But my curiosity persisted, and I stayed silent for a while, considering it.
“What about all the rumors about it? Aren’t you scared?” I pried.
“Meh, a little, but who doesn’t want to get rich?” He said greedily.
“I don’t want to do that if it puts my family at risk,” I protested.
“If it’s just a rumor, then it won’t be true, and there won’t be any danger.” He spoke, and his statement made me give in.
“Fine. Let’s do it after school.”
I met him in his yard and saw him with his usual mischievous smile, holding two sticks. He tossed one at me, and I caught it, not knowing what to do with it.
“What’s this for?” I asked.
“To protect ourselves,” he said. I had no idea how we would protect ourselves against a possible demon with sticks. I sighed, still worrying about what might happen. We walked into my house and stood in front of the closet. Nothing seemed off; it looked normal, and no bad vibes were coming from it. Daniel went ahead and slowly opened the closet.
Nothing. Nothing was in there. The closet was just empty, and there were not even any spiderwebs and no dust at all. So, it was just a lie then, and I chucked my stick in there and closed the closet.
“Well, that was very anticlimactic.” He said disappointed
“Yeah,” I said. I opened the closet to retrieve my stick. What I found next surprised and scared the living hell out of me. I stumbled back, and Daniel rushed to see what I had seen. They were the same sticks, but they had doubled in quantity. Daniel’s smile went from ear to ear. He turned toward me.
“We’re going to be rich!” He yipped.
I was super confused at how the sticks had suddenly doubled, and Daniel noticed my confused look.
“The closet can duplicate things, I think.” He said with a wide grin across his face as one crossed mine too
We put all our coins into the closet and doubled our money each time. Our eyes gleamed at the sight of so many coins. It was getting close to when my parents would return, so I told Daniel to grab a bag to stash the money away in. Daniel had a dark gleam in his eyes that didn’t seem like his. A cold shiver ran down my spine.
“Daniel?” I whimpered as I shook him, but he didn’t stop duplicating the coins. The coins had already filled the closet and were pouring out. I wasn’t worried about my parents finding out that we had opened the closet; I was concerned about Daniel. I noticed he was holding a coin in his fist, so I quickly scrambled to pry his hand open. The moment I touched the coin, it was like a dark, cold, malicious liquid going through my veins to my head.
More. More. You want to be rich, right? Go inside the closet!
My eyes widened as I threw the coin away and pushed Daniel away from the coin pile. He gasped, and the look in his eyes dissipated.
“What happened?” He said, out of breath.
“I don’t know how to explain this, but the coins had forced you to keep doing this,” I told him. “We need to clean this up before anyone touches a coin.”
“Yeah, this is dangerous.”
“Oh yeah, make sure not to touch the coins with your bare hands.”
We had finished putting the coins in a big bag and threw them into the woods just in time for my parents to get home not to witness it. I went to my room and heaved a sigh of relief, although I don’t know why. It was either the fact that I saved Daniel or didn’t get caught with the duplicating coins using the closet. Either way, I will never go near that door ever again.
My mom called me from my room when it was time for dinner.
“Coming, mom!” I said, scrambling out of my bed and rubbing my eyes. Dinner was ready on the table, and I sat on the chair.
“How was school today, hon?” She asked while setting down plates in front of me.
“Meh, the usual, someone did prank the teacher by dropping water from the top of a door,” I responded, half awake and half asleep. I heard my father come to the dinner table, but he said something that made me snap awake.
“Ooh, a coin!” He exclaimed.
“Wait! No! Don’t touch the coin!” I shrieked, but I was too late.
“Huh? Why not?” He said, confused as he picked the coin up the inspect it. Instantly, his eyes got that same look Daniel had when in a trance. His eyes turned dark but shined an unnatural glow. He turned and walked slowly to the closet. I tried pulling him back, but he wouldn’t budge. He opened the door and stepped inside. I yelled his name, and my mom stood near the stove, frozen in shock.
Before he closed the door, he tossed it to my mother, who yelped and fumbled with it. But she still held it.
“Oh no,” I thought. “She has it now.”
I ran to my mom, trying to pry her hands open, but her strength had seemed to increase tenfold. I could see her nails digging into her hands as no bad vibes were coming, and as I opened it, it revealed nothing. I slumped down, knowing I couldn’t do anything, and watched as my mother closed the door, her eyes trained on me. Then she threw it to me.
When we bought the house from our landlord, they said they had one rule; never open the closet in the corner of our living room. They never explained why, no matter how much we asked or bribed.
Our neighborhood was rural, with a small school half a mile away. I am an only child, but I do have one friend. His name is Daniel. He was tall, skinny, red-haired, and always had a mischievous smile. He lives in the house next to mine, which was just a little bigger than ours. My parents worked at a small store a few miles away, so when we finished school, we would always play in his yard with a soccer ball and make-shift goals out of two sticks on the ground.
Daniel kicks the ball in the goal as I groan in defeat. I lie down, tired, and look over at Daniel. He chuckles.
“You’ve gotta do more defense, man. You can’t just let me run by.” He reached out a hand. “C’mon, get up.”
“You’re better than me, and I’m scared of tripping.” I protested as Daniel pulled me up.
“Scaredy cat!” Daniel teased. I pouted.
“Hey, I’m not the one who doesn’t want to take a peek in the closet!” Daniel paled at the words and leaned closer. He looked around to ensure no one was nearby and focused his eyes on me.
“Rumor has it that whoever lives in your house becomes rich, but with a curse. No one knows what the curse is.” He says under a creepy whisper, grinning. “As quickly as the person found out about the closet, they went insane and were never found again.”
I must have looked horrified when he looked at my face and started laughing.
“Well, it’s just a rumor, though, right?” I said hopefully.
“No, the last family there were the Bellows, and they didn’t last long there.” He warned.
“Uh, let’s continue soccer,” I said, shaken.
We played for another hour until my dad called me back home.
“How was your day?” He asked while pouring water.
“It was fine; we didn’t do much today,” I said, staring at the closet, thinking about what Daniel had said. My dad noticed where I was looking and followed my gaze to the closet.
“Don’t worry about it. Nothing bad will happen if we don’t touch it.” He reassured me.
I finished my dinner and headed to my room, still thinking about the closet. I did my usual nightly routine and laid down in my bed. I dreamt about the riches in the closet; then, a curse laid upon me. I woke up the following day, ate scrambled eggs for breakfast, and headed to school after saying goodbye to my parents. I caught up with Daniel, who left his house at the same time I left mine.
“What’s up, Daniel?” I said.
“Do you want to go to the closet today when your parents aren’t home?” he asked. I looked ahead, thinking about the consequences and the rumors. But my curiosity persisted, and I stayed silent for a while, considering it.
“What about all the rumors about it? Aren’t you scared?” I pried.
“Meh, a little, but who doesn’t want to get rich?” He said greedily.
“I don’t want to do that if it puts my family at risk,” I protested.
“If it’s just a rumor, then it won’t be true, and there won’t be any danger.” He spoke, and his statement made me give in.
“Fine. Let’s do it after school.”
I met him in his yard and saw him with his usual mischievous smile, holding two sticks. He tossed one at me, and I caught it, not knowing what to do with it.
“What’s this for?” I asked.
“To protect ourselves,” he said. I had no idea how we would protect ourselves against a possible demon with sticks. I sighed, still worrying about what might happen. We walked into my house and stood in front of the closet. Nothing seemed off; it looked normal, and no bad vibes were coming from it. Daniel went ahead and slowly opened the closet.
Nothing. Nothing was in there. The closet was just empty, and there were not even any spiderwebs and no dust at all. So, it was just a lie then, and I chucked my stick in there and closed the closet.
“Well, that was very anticlimactic.” He said disappointed
“Yeah,” I said. I opened the closet to retrieve my stick. What I found next surprised and scared the living hell out of me. I stumbled back, and Daniel rushed to see what I had seen. They were the same sticks, but they had doubled in quantity. Daniel’s smile went from ear to ear. He turned toward me.
“We’re going to be rich!” He yipped.
I was super confused at how the sticks had suddenly doubled, and Daniel noticed my confused look.
“The closet can duplicate things, I think.” He said with a wide grin across his face as one crossed mine too
We put all our coins into the closet and doubled our money each time. Our eyes gleamed at the sight of so many coins. It was getting close to when my parents would return, so I told Daniel to grab a bag to stash the money away in. Daniel had a dark gleam in his eyes that didn’t seem like his. A cold shiver ran down my spine.
“Daniel?” I whimpered as I shook him, but he didn’t stop duplicating the coins. The coins had already filled the closet and were pouring out. I wasn’t worried about my parents finding out that we had opened the closet; I was concerned about Daniel. I noticed he was holding a coin in his fist, so I quickly scrambled to pry his hand open. The moment I touched the coin, it was like a dark, cold, malicious liquid going through my veins to my head.
More. More. You want to be rich, right? Go inside the closet!
My eyes widened as I threw the coin away and pushed Daniel away from the coin pile. He gasped, and the look in his eyes dissipated.
“What happened?” He said, out of breath.
“I don’t know how to explain this, but the coins had forced you to keep doing this,” I told him. “We need to clean this up before anyone touches a coin.”
“Yeah, this is dangerous.”
“Oh yeah, make sure not to touch the coins with your bare hands.”
We had finished putting the coins in a big bag and threw them into the woods just in time for my parents to get home not to witness it. I went to my room and heaved a sigh of relief, although I don’t know why. It was either the fact that I saved Daniel or didn’t get caught with the duplicating coins using the closet. Either way, I will never go near that door ever again.
My mom called me from my room when it was time for dinner.
“Coming, mom!” I said, scrambling out of my bed and rubbing my eyes. Dinner was ready on the table, and I sat on the chair.
“How was school today, hon?” She asked while setting down plates in front of me.
“Meh, the usual, someone did prank the teacher by dropping water from the top of a door,” I responded, half awake and half asleep. I heard my father come to the dinner table, but he said something that made me snap awake.
“Ooh, a coin!” He exclaimed.
“Wait! No! Don’t touch the coin!” I shrieked, but I was too late.
“Huh? Why not?” He said, confused as he picked the coin up the inspect it. Instantly, his eyes got that same look Daniel had when in a trance. His eyes turned dark but shined an unnatural glow. He turned and walked slowly to the closet. I tried pulling him back, but he wouldn’t budge. He opened the door and stepped inside. I yelled his name, and my mom stood near the stove, frozen in shock.
Before he closed the door, he tossed it to my mother, who yelped and fumbled with it. But she still held it.
“Oh no,” I thought. “She has it now.”
I ran to my mom, trying to pry her hands open, but her strength had seemed to increase tenfold. I could see her nails digging into her hands as no bad vibes were coming, and as I opened it, it revealed nothing. I slumped down, knowing I couldn’t do anything, and watched as my mother closed the door, her eyes trained on me. Then she threw it to me.
