Angelina tried to act normal at school, but inside her head, she was screaming.
She had not spoken since the first night.
Not even a single word.
She forced herself to smile, to nod, to pretend everything was fine.
But the silence felt like a heavy chain around her throat.
During class, she kept hearing the whimper in her mind.
It wasn't loud, but it was there.
Like a memory she couldn't forget.
She looked at the clock.
12:17 p.m.
Her body shivered.
The whimper returned in her mind for a moment.
She blinked and forced herself to focus.
She needed to stay calm.
She needed to stay silent.
After school, she walked home slowly.
She tried to act like she wasn't scared.
But the fear followed her like a shadow.
When she got home, she stayed in her room.
She didn't go near the stairs.
She didn't go near the hallway.
She sat on her bed and tried to think of a way to end this.
She needed to know who the girl was.
She needed to know why the girl was coming.
She needed to know how to stop it.
Her eyes moved around her room.
Her gaze landed on an old box under her bed.
A box she never touched.
A box that belonged to her grandmother.
She remembered her grandmother's warning again:
"If you hear a girl crying after midnight…
don't answer her."
Angelina's hands shook as she pulled the box out.
She opened it slowly.
Inside were old things:
old photos
old letters
and a small leather diary
Angelina's eyes widened.
She didn't remember ever seeing this diary before.
She opened it.
The pages were yellowed.
The handwriting was small and shaky.
Like someone wrote it in fear.
Angelina began to read.
The diary belonged to her grandmother.
And the first page was titled:
"The Whimpering Girl"
Angelina's heart raced.
She continued reading.
The diary told a story:
A long time ago, in the same house, a little girl lived here.
Her name was Mara.
Mara was the daughter of the house's first owner.
She was a quiet child, always alone.
Her parents were busy.
She spent most of her time in the house, playing by herself.
One night, Mara disappeared.
No one ever found her.
Her parents searched everywhere.
They asked the neighbors.
They looked for weeks.
But Mara was never found.
The house was quiet again.
But after that night, strange things began to happen.
People in the house heard a girl whimpering.
They heard her crying in the walls.
They heard her begging for help.
No one could find her.
Some people thought she was dead.
Some thought she ran away.
But her whimper stayed.
It never stopped.
The diary continued:
One day, the grandmother wrote:
"She is trapped between worlds.
She is not a ghost…
She is a warning.
She will come for anyone who answers her."
Angelina's hands trembled.
She flipped the pages.
There was a small drawing of a girl in the diary.
A girl with long hair and a pale face.
A girl who looked exactly like the silhouette she saw.
Angelina realized something.
The girl wasn't just a ghost.
She was Mara.
And she was trapped inside the house.
The diary had one final note:
"If you hear her again, remember the rules:
Do not answer.
Do not speak.
Do not cry.
If you do, she will enter."
Angelina's eyes filled with tears.
She felt a heavy sadness.
She wanted to help Mara.
But she also feared her.
She didn't know what to do.
She closed the diary and held it tight.
She whispered to herself, but the words came out silent:
"I'm sorry, Mara."
She didn't mean to speak.
She didn't mean to break the rule.
But the words had already been said.
And the moment she spoke…
She heard the whimper again.
Not far away.
Closer.
Like it was coming from the room next to her.
Angelina froze.
She realized she had just broken the rule.
And now…
Mara was coming closer than ever.