Halloween

It was October 31st—the eve of Halloween. Young people were walking the streets dressed as evil spirits and drinking alcohol. But Artyom was at home. He hadn't been able to meet his friends—they said they weren't feeling well. So, as usual, he sat at home at the computer. His mother had gone to her friends' house—they also didn't miss the opportunity to have a drink in honor of the holiday. Even his stepfather had gone out with friends for a beer, so Artyom was home alone. In a depressed mood, he decided to go to bed early. After turning off the computer, he heard music (the hum of the system unit had previously drowned it out)—apparently the neighbors upstairs were having fun too.

Artyom lay down but couldn't fall asleep because of the music playing on the floor above. Angry at his neighbors, he was about to go up to them, because it was already a quarter to one in the morning. But suddenly he heard a wild scream; even the music stopped playing. The neighbors started making noise. It sounded like a fight—people were clearly shouting and the sounds of "flying furniture" could be heard. Then, judging by the sounds, the door to the neighbors' apartment opened, and all the guests rushed for the exit. Artyom thought the people had quarreled, the guests had left, and he could finally get some sleep. He settled comfortably on his little couch and fell asleep.

They gave him about an hour of sleep. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. His parents had their keys, his friends had said they weren't coming—Artyom wasn't expecting anyone else. So he lay on the couch for a long time, unwilling to sleep. Finally, he heard footsteps in the entryway—whoever had rung the doorbell was heading up the stairs. Artyom tried to go back to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. He decided to get up and make himself some coffee. On his way to the kitchen, he heard the doorbell ring for the neighbors upstairs. "They must have called the wrong apartment when they called me," he thought, and after making himself some coffee, he sat down at the computer. Then his cell phone rang, and his girlfriend's name appeared on the screen: "Valya." Artyom picked it up:

"Hello?"

"Hello, hi! Is Max at your place yet?"

"No, you said you weren't coming..."

"No, he just wanted to give you a surprise, which I apparently ruined. I'm on my way too, I'll be there soon, wait!"

At that point, Artyom realized that the one ringing his doorbell was Maxim. And the neighbors who had been fighting opened the door for him from upstairs. Hanging up, he carefully opened the apartment door and turned on the light in the entryway. Going upstairs, he examined the neighbors' door—it looked as usual. Mustering up his courage, he rang the doorbell.

A neighbor opened the door. He squinted, as the light in the entryway was bright, and he was apparently already asleep. Artyom asked if everything was okay and if anyone had come in. The neighbor answered rather abruptly that it wasn't and closed the door. Surprised, Artyom decided to go to his apartment and wait for Valya. He'd barely entered the apartment and sat down when he heard a crash from above, like someone had slammed into the wall. Artyom's nerves gave out and he called the police. A car with two police officers soon arrived, and they went up to the neighbors' apartment with Artyom. No one answered the door. The police officers had decided to check on the apartment in the morning and now advised Artyom to go home and go to bed. Artyom did just that—he took a sleeping pill and went to bed. Valya never arrived that night.

In the morning, his parents came home and, horrified, asked Artyom what the graffiti had written on the front door. When he stepped out onto the landing, Artyom saw the words written in crimson paint, eerily reminiscent of blood, on the front door. The sign read, "You shouldn't have opened the door." His parents said the door was ajar when they arrived. Artyom was horrified, as he hadn't opened the door to anyone the night before. He returned to his room. The blinds were drawn, leaving the room almost completely dark. Artyom went to the window to raise them when he suddenly heard the click of the door being locked behind him and a hissing whisper: "You shouldn't have opened the door, shouldn't you?"

Artyom didn't have time to scream. Something large pounced on him from behind and began strangling him. Only then did he remember he hadn't locked the door when he went up to the neighbors' house that night. Valya must have arrived while he was upstairs, but it wasn't Artyom who greeted her in the apartment with the door open...

When his stepfather finally kicked down the door, everyone saw Artyom lying dead on the floor. He had been strangled. There was no one else in the room. Probably not, since the blinds were still closed...