“On our wedding night, my father-in-law slipped an envelope containing $5,000 into the palm of my hand and whispered, ‘If you want to stay alive, leave right now.’
I froze, as if the ground had given way beneath my feet…”

The wedding ended after midnight, amid warm lights, crystal glasses, and laughter that still echoed when we got into the car to head to Daniel’s parents’ house.

I was exhausted, but happy. I had dreamed of this day ever since he proposed to me in the rain, and although there were some tensions during the planning, nothing seemed to overshadow our future.

As soon as we arrived, his family greeted us with hugs. Everything seemed perfectly normal… until the house fell silent.

Daniel went up to our room to change and I stayed downstairs for a few minutes, trying to remove my makeup in the bathroom next to the living room.

When I came out, Daniel’s father was waiting for me in the hallway. I thought he wanted to give me some kind message, maybe some typical marriage advice. But his expression… there was something about his expression that chilled me to the bone.

He approached without saying a word. I felt an urge to back away, but I forced myself to smile.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Ramirez?” I asked, with a lump in my throat.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he discreetly slipped an envelope into my hand and, without taking his eyes off mine, murmured in a hoarse, almost imperceptible voice:

—If you want to stay alive… leave now.

I thought I had misheard. I stood motionless, as if the ground had disappeared beneath my feet.

He squeezed my wrist lightly.

“I’m not joking. If you have any sense, walk out that door. Don’t look back.”

Then he walked away, walked confidently up the stairs, and disappeared.

My breathing became erratic. I opened the envelope with trembling hands: $5,000 in crisp, perfectly neat bills. I felt a dizziness that left me breathless.

What did that mean?
Was it a threat?
Blackmail?
Or… a real warning?

My mind started racing: Was there something dark about Daniel that I didn’t know about? Had something serious happened in the family? Why would his own father-in-law give me money to run away?

The sound of footsteps going down the stairs snapped me out of my paralysis.

It was Daniel, with a calm demeanor, oblivious to the chaos that had erupted inside me. I hid the envelope in the pocket of my wedding dress, still bulky and difficult to handle.

“Is everything alright?” he asked, approaching me.

I looked at him. The man I said I loved. The man I had just married… could he be a danger?

I wanted to ask him, but something inside me—perhaps fear, perhaps instinct—forced me to smile as if nothing was wrong.

—Yes… I’m just tired —I replied.

But as he took my hand and led me toward the room, I could only think of one thing:

Should I trust him, or should I flee before dawn?…”

When we entered the room, Daniel dropped his jacket onto a chair and began unbuttoning his shirt. I watched him silently, trying to decipher any strange gesture, any hidden shadow that might justify that warning.
But he seemed… normal. Calm. Even happy.

“Honey, do you want me to help you with the dress?” he asked with a tired smile.

I nodded. I didn’t trust my own voice.

As I felt his hands on my back, undoing the buttons, a knot of anxiety settled in my chest. Every touch made me wonder if I really knew this man. If his family was hiding something. If his father had gone mad… or if he was the only sane person in that house.

When he finally freed me from the dress, I went to the bathroom, my heart pounding. I locked the door and leaned against the sink, trying to catch my breath.

I took the envelope out of my pocket and recounted the bills. They were intact. Real.
My father-in-law wasn’t gambling.

“My love?” Daniel’s voice sounded from outside, soft and patient. “Are you okay? You’re taking a while.”

I took a deep breath.

—Yes… I’m coming out now —I replied, although the truth is that I didn’t want to go out.

I looked at myself in the mirror. Me, with my makeup smeared, my hair a mess, and in the middle of what should have been the happiest night of my life… feeling like a stranger trapped in someone else’s house.

I had two options:
trust or run away .

And none of them were safe.

When I came out of the bathroom, Daniel was already lying down, his arm outstretched toward me, as if inviting me to come closer. His warm gesture contrasted sharply with the icy knot in my stomach.

—Come here —he said to me tenderly.

I lay down beside him, stiff, trying to hide my tension. He hugged me, rested his head on my shoulder, and murmured:

—It’s been a long day. I love you.

His words, which would have melted my heart before, now only intensified my confusion.
If there was danger… it couldn’t be coming from him, could it?

I waited until her breathing became deep and regular. When I was sure she was asleep, I carefully got up. I walked to the window and looked out at the garden. In the distance, I could make out a figure: a man leaning against the porch. His silhouette was unmistakable.

Daniel’s father.
Standing. Staring intently at our window. Not moving.

A shiver ran through my body.

I stepped back, gently closed the curtain, and picked up my phone. I checked for a signal. Nothing. Zero bars. The house was far enough away to be isolated.
Or… was someone blocking it?

My thoughts swirled intensely until I heard a soft noise behind me: the creaking of the mattress.

“What are you doing awake?” Daniel asked in a deep, half-asleep voice.

I turned around quickly.

—Nothing… I was just catching my breath.

Daniel sat up. His eyes had a strange gleam, as if he were trying to read my mind.

“My dad will come down early to say goodbye before we leave tomorrow,” she said, even though I hadn’t mentioned him. “Don’t worry about him. He’s always been… quirky.”

Peculiar.
That word frightened me more than it comforted me.

Daniel approached and gently took my hand.

—Trust me, okay?

I looked at him. And for the first time in years… I didn’t know what to say.

I woke up with a start hours later, my heart racing. There was a sharp sound, like a distant door slamming. I looked at the clock: 4:12 am

Daniel was still fast asleep.

I took the envelope with the $5,000 and approached the door. I hesitated. I touched it with my hand… and discovered something that chilled me to the bone:
it was locked from the outside.

I tried turning the knob several times, without success.

“It can’t be…” I whispered, feeling panic rise in my throat.

I stepped back, tripped over the bed, and Daniel opened his eyes instantly. Too fast.
Too alert.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, sitting up.

“The door…” I stammered. “It’s locked.”

He frowned, stood up, and tried the doorknob. Then he knocked twice, calmly, as if it weren’t strange at all.

“My parents must have locked it for security. They don’t like leaving doors unlocked overnight.”

I tried to smile, but my body was trembling.

“For whose safety?” I asked, almost breathless.

Daniel turned to me with an expression I’d never seen on him before.
A mixture of pity… and something darker.

“My love…” she said, moving closer. “There are things you still don’t understand. Things you should have known before marrying me.”

He took another step.
I stepped back.

“My father shouldn’t have intervened,” she continued in a soft, almost sad tone. “Although I understand why he did.”

My breathing became a trembling thread.

“Why did he do it?” I asked, my voice breaking.

Daniel smiled.
A slow smile.
A smile I had never seen on him before.

—Because… I wanted to give you a chance.

The silence that followed was so thick I felt like I was suffocating.
I took a step back, searching for something to defend myself with, anything.

Daniel tilted his head.

—Are you thinking of running away?

My throat closed up.

He took another step forward.

“Don’t worry,” he whispered. ” You still have time… before dawn.”

And then I knew.

Whatever happened in that house…
that warning had not been a mistake.

I backed away until I felt the cold wall against my back. Daniel kept advancing, slowly, as if he feared that a sudden movement would shatter me into a thousand pieces. His voice, on the other hand, remained soft… too soft.

“I don’t want to scare you,” he said.

“You’re already doing it,” I managed to reply in a whisper.

Daniel sighed and ran a hand over his face, as if he were fighting with himself.

“I shouldn’t tell you this… but my father ruined everything. None of this should have been so… violent.”

“Violent.”
The word fell like a knife into my stomach.

“What’s going on, Daniel?” I asked, my trembling uncontrollably. “Why did your father give me money? Why did he tell me to run away?”

Daniel stopped. He looked up at the locked door. Then at the window covered by the curtains. I noticed him… calculating.

“Because he thinks you won’t be able to handle it,” he finally replied.

—Endure what?

He moved a little closer, but I kept a minimal distance, extending a hand instinctively, defensively. He stopped. For a moment, the strange gleam in his eyes seemed to fade, and he saw again the man I had fallen in love with.

“My family…” he began, “carries a curse.”

I blinked. I hadn’t expected that.
I wasn’t even sure I’d heard him right.

—A… curse?

Daniel smiled bitterly.

—Call it what you want. Genetics, destiny, hereditary madness, rituals… we all have our version. But there’s one thing that repeats itself in every generation:
the first wedding night… someone dies.

The air became thick, unbreathable.

—You’re… you’re joking.

“I wish,” she whispered. “But no. My great-grandmother died the night she got married. Then my grandmother. Then my father’s first wife.”

I was frozen.

—Was your father married before?

Daniel nodded slightly.

—And she died hours after the wedding. A fall down the stairs. Officially it was an accident… but in this family nobody believes in accidents.

My mind was filled with an unbearable vortex.

—So… your father…?

“He thinks I’m next,” Daniel interrupted. “And he thinks if someone has to die tonight… it shouldn’t be you.”

The world seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

“No,” I murmured, stepping back. “This doesn’t make sense. It can’t be real. You’re making this up, you’re—”

“Do you think I want you to be afraid?” he said, taking a step closer, though not touching me. “My father gave you money because… because he’s convinced that if I married, the curse would claim another life. And he’d rather sacrifice me than you.”

My hands were shaking so much that I almost dropped the envelope.

“And you?” I asked. “What do you think?”

Daniel lowered his gaze.
And when he answered, his voice broke:

—I think… something is going to happen before dawn.

A terrifying silence took over the room.

“That’s why I wanted you to trust me,” he continued. “I don’t want to hurt you. I just want… if something happens… you’re not alone. I want you to be with me.”

A gust of wind hit the window. Or maybe it was something else. Something heavier. Closer.

Daniel turned slowly towards the noise.

I pressed the envelope against my chest.

He murmured:

—It’s already started.

And at that moment, the light in the room flickered … and went out.

The darkness was absolute. Not a trace of light filtered through the window.
I only heard Daniel’s rapid breathing… and my own, which felt like it was tearing at my chest.

“Don’t move,” he whispered into the darkness. “Stay close.”

But my legs were already trembling.
I took a step back. I tripped over the edge of the bed.
The envelope with the money slipped from my hands and fell to the floor with a rustle of paper.

Then, in the most suffocating silence, we heard something else.

One step.
Out there.
In the hallway.

Then another one.

And another one.

Slow.
Heavy.
As if someone were walking while dragging something.

Daniel stepped between me and the door. Despite the fear that gripped him, I saw him stand up with an almost desperate determination.

“Don’t let him in,” she whispered. “Whatever happens… don’t look him in the eyes.”

A chill ran down my spine.

“To whom?” I asked in a broken whisper.

Daniel didn’t answer. He couldn’t.
Because at that moment, the door vibrated with a sharp bang.

I stifled a scream.

Daniel gritted his teeth.

“He has no right,” he murmured. “Not this time.”

Knock.
Another one.
The doorknob began to move, slowly, testing, turning.
As if someone on the other side were enjoying hearing us breathe in fear.

Daniel’s breathing changed. It became tense, almost painful.

“You have to leave,” he told me, still staring at the door. “Now.”

—And you? —I asked, my voice shattered.

The wood creaked as if it were splitting from the inside.

Daniel looked at me over his shoulder, and in his eyes I saw something that broke my heart:
acceptance.

“Someone dies tonight,” he whispered. “And it’s not going to be you.”

The door exploded inward, as if struck by something impossible, something inhuman. A blast of icy air entered the room.
I screamed.
Daniel pushed me toward the window.

—¡Corre!

I barely had time to react. I ran. My hands trembling, I opened the window. The cold scratched my skin. The garden was dark, but it was freedom.
I turned to help him… but Daniel was already facing whatever had entered, that impossible shadow, tall, amorphous, with eyes too bright to be human.

—Daniel… —I whispered.

He gave a sad smile.

-I love you.

And the shadow pounced.

The sound that followed was a dry, violent roar that tore through the room.
I jumped. I landed on the damp grass.
I ran barefoot, without looking back, as the sky began to lighten over the horizon.

As I crossed the property’s gate, I heard one last explosion from inside the house.
And then… silence.

Absolute silence.

I ran until my legs gave out.
Until the sun finally rose.
Until the world seemed to leave that night behind.

Hours later, my dress torn and covered in dirt, I arrived at a gas station. I asked for help. I called the police.
When they returned with me to the house…

There was no body.
There was no trace of Daniel.
Nor of his father.
Nor of that shadow.

They only found…
the envelope with the $5,000 , on the grass, right under the window from where he had escaped.

Nobody believed my story.
Nobody found any signs of violence.
Not even the door was broken.

As if the house had… swallowed the entire night.

I left that city weeks later. But sometimes, when night falls and the wind blows, I still hear a whisper behind me:

“…before dawn…”

I never went back.

And I never will.