Sara and I had wild imaginations when we were kids. Our moms would let us have sleep overs from time to time, and they were definitely your typical little girl sleep overs. We braided each other’s hair, played with our dolls, tried to do our makeup with a makeup kit borrowed from one of our mothers, and made up games to play.

One night we were secretly up past our bedtime when Sara said she wanted to try this new game her brother made up. I frowned and reminded her that we were only supposed to play our own original games. That was a goal we set when we were four, and I wasn’t going to break our five year streak. She reassured me that it would be worth it, but we had to do it quickly because we could only play at midnight.

I wasn’t totally convinced, but it was already 11:58 and I was dying to know what was in the box that was in front of her. I looked closer, trying to discern the items with our dim flashlight. She was already digging in the box excitedly and started handing me some items. A candle, a piece of paper, a pencil, a matchbook, a salt shaker, and a red pin cushion with a single sewing needle in it.

With no notice of the incredulous look on my face, Sara retrieved the exact same items for herself and then brought out an extra piece of paper that already had scribbles on it. She reached for the flashlight and began reading.

“One, write out your whole name on the paper.” She paused to do just that and I followed suit. “Two, put a drop of blood on the paper and let the paper absorb it.”

She reached for her pin cushion - which was purple instead of red - and pulled out the sewing needle.

I slowly pulled out my needle and swallowed, mimicking Sara’s actions. I tried not to squeal when I pricked my finger. A drop of blood dripped onto the paper.

“Two, turn off all the lights and put the paper in front of the door. Light the candle and put it on top of the paper.”

We clicked off the flashlight and fumbled our way to the door, trying not to bump into her dresser. We placed our papers and candles, then struggled with the matches in the dark. I wondered how Sara was going to read the instructions without a flashlight. After the candles were lit, Sara used the flames to see her paper.

“Three… knock on the door twenty… two? Twenty two times. It must be midnight on the twenty second knock.” I could see her furrowed brows in the candlelight, but I knew she was struggling to see anything on that paper. “Open door… blow out candle… close door… immediately relight candle.”

We moved quickly and carefully followed each step. When it was time to relight our candles, my shaky hands prevented me from striking a match. Sara grabbed one of my matches and lit it with her candle, then gave it back. The flame danced as my quivering hands lowered it to the wick. Sara kept urging me to hurry.

The wick blazed to light and Sara continued. “Okay, now it’s time for the fun part. We’re going to play hide and seek with the Midnight Man. Take your candle and don’t let him catch you. If your candle goes out, he’s near you. You have to relight it in 10 seconds to keep playing. If you don’t do it in 10 seconds, you have to surround yourself in salt and stay there until 3:33. If you mess any of this up, you lose. Okay, so we just have to avoid him until 3:33. I’m totally going to win!”

With that, she took off, leaving me whimpering in her room. I crept into the hallway and looked around. I was just able to make out the staircase railing and hugged it until I got to the stairs. The pantry room was the best hiding spot in the house, so that’s exactly where I went. I sat against the wall beside a bag of potatoes and tried to steady my breathing. My teeth started to chatter, but I didn’t remember that room ever being that cold.

Suddenly, I heard a whisper from behind me. I jumped as cold air brushed my face and took my candlelight. I ran back into the kitchen, frantically grabbing for my matches. Even though my hands were trembling even more now, I somehow managed to relight my candle. I made my way into the den, telling myself that the shadow I saw was probably just Sara messing with me.

I heard a blood curdling scream from upstairs and rushed back up, worried about how mad her parents were going to be if we woke them up. I called out to Sara in a loud whisper. It took a few seconds, but I heard her whisper from the hallway. I followed the noise.

As I drew closer to the hushed voice, I realized it wasn’t Sara. In fact, I don’t even think it was human. I turned in the other direction and ran, shielding the flame with my free hand. I came to a halt when I saw the tall, shadowy man looming at the other end of the hallway, about two meters from me.

I tried to scream, but my body stiffened and I couldn’t get any noise to come out. I tried to run, but my fear kept me locked in place. My candle went out once again and I patted around for my matches. I felt all the blood drain from my face when I realized I must’ve left them downstairs, along with the salt.

The Midnight Man found me, and all I had was my candle.