We looked at each other in horror. The teacher has lost her mind. “What do you mean?” Ricardo asked her. She snapped her fingers at him. “Quiet.” She kept looking at us like prey. “ You all know the story of a man who kept his children in a box under his bed. They say his house is right there, at the end of this street.”

“And you want all of us to go there.” My friend Tora said. “Is this a joke?” Student in the back row asked.

“Children have been disappearing in this town. It’s time for us to find out what is going on. Your parents will never let you come back to school if the disappearings won’t stop.. do you want to stay inside? Never see your friends?”

“What if it’s dangerous,” Ricardo shook his head. She walked in front of him and smiled. “We’ll all stay together. It’ll be fine.”

We walked in a row keeping our heads down. It was raining and it was cold. Miss Nancy walked in the front with Stacy and Cohen. They were talking about the house. “We heard that the house used to belong to a witch, but she was imprisoned in the basement for the rest of her life.. and she died in hunger.”

Ms Nancy smiled “Another case of terrible misunderstanding. Perhaps she was just a regular woman. Now we are all haunted by her fate. History never forgets.”

I whispered to Tora, “Don’t you think Ms Nancy is acting odd?” Tora looked at her and shook her shoulders. “I’m not sure. Something feels off, but she’s always been impulsive.”

I decided to slow down my pace. My instincts were telling me not to follow this woman. Perhaps she had innocent motivation. Perhaps this was all part of some lesson in history class.

But I saw how she kept smiling to Stacy and Cohen. Something inside me kept telling me that I’m not dealing with a human anymore.