The door slammed, echoing down the long hall. I jumped, dropping the towel I had been folding, to the bed. Slowly, I went to my bedroom door and peeked down the dark hallway. At the other end, my teenage son stood in his doorway, staring at the bedroom door between us. A picture suddenly fell to the floor making a “thud” sound as it hit the carpet. We both jumped, and I’m pretty sure Cole screamed like a little girl… wait, maybe that was me.

“What was that?!” I whispered loudly to my son. My answer was a puzzled look and a shrug. Cole stood frozen in his doorway.

“Maybe you should check out the spare room… see if the window's open or something.” Sounded like a good idea to me. Cole’s response was a raised brow and a cocked head. I guess it was a stupid thing to say… It was 30 degrees outside and raining, probably spitting ice at this point. Besides, it was my job to protect him, not the other way around. Still… he was a guy and supposedly the stronger sex, or so he had reminded me, many times.

“Never mind”, I told him. “I’ll have a look”. Nope, no argument. Dang!

I turned on the hall light and made a note to myself that I seriously needed brighter bulbs, before edging my way towards the closed door. I listened closely for any kind of sound on the other side of the wall. We had heard and seen some strange things in that room… Grayish, floating shadows, footsteps, voices, tapping on the wall, and an eerie presence that kept us all a little on edge. If we needed something out of the spare room, it was get in and get out. Often times, the door would close as we entered the room. It didn’t slam, though, it just closed slowly, and it never latched.

I reached for the knob but quickly drew my hand back. My heart was racing and my fingers were trembling. A glance at my big, strong, fearless son and I knew I was on my own. He hadn’t moved since the last time I had looked at him. I took a deep breath and reached for the door again. Just as I started to turn the knob, a loud scratching sound came from the other side of the door, followed by a wailing sound. Everything in me said to run away, but I couldn’t. I threw caution to the wind, gave the handle a quick turn, and pushed the door open. The room was dark, but I saw movement directly in front of me. I reached for the light but, before I could hit the switch, something pushed past my legs, nearly knocking me over. I screamed, and jumped back. This time, I’m positive I heard Cole scream, too. As my eyes adjusted to the dimly lit hallway, I focused on the culprit that sat a few feet away from me. Maggie, our very curious Beagle, had gotten herself stuck in the spare room and, apparently, when the door started to close, she had jumped up on it, making it slam. She sat there looking up at me, not knowing what to do. Her tail would wag, and then stop, she was terrified!

“Ahhhhh…poor baby!” I started to giggle as I knelt down by my sweet little dog. Cole joined me as we hugged and reassured her.

“It’s okay Maggie. You’re okay…” She was trembling as much as I had been a few moments before. I sat on the floor and pulled her into my lap.

“You weren’t much help!” I gave my son a gentle shove. Something could’ve gotten me and you wouldn't even have tried to save me!” Relief settled in and we both started to laugh even harder. Maggie looked from one of us to the other, like we were crazy, and then curled up in a ball on my lap.

Cole looked offended. “I just wanted you to see how strong you are. If I had come to your rescue, you wouldn’t have known that you were capable of opening that door. It was all for you, mom.” Cole looked as though he actually believed the bull he was spewing.

Before I could dispute my son’s faulty logic, the spare room door slowly started to close.  Cole and I looked at each other and started to laugh… Just as the door touched the frame, it slammed closed, and a deep, eerie laugh came from the other side. Umm… Anyone wanna buy a house?