The night had gone strangely still around the old manor, as if the forest itself were holding its breath. Evelyn felt it first—a soft tremor under her feet, like something big had just shifted deep underground.
Alex noticed her flinch. "You okay?"
Before she could answer, the lights in the hallway flickered, then stretched unnaturally long, casting thin, warped shadows on the floor. Leo immediately stepped in front of Sophie, his jaw tight.
"Not this again…" he muttered.
But this wasn't the usual haunting.Something was awake.
A slow, dragging sound echoed from upstairs—shhhk… shhhk… shhhk—as though long nails were being pulled across wood. Evelyn's breath caught. "It's above us…"
Sophie grabbed Leo's sleeve. "We shouldn't go up there—"
A sudden thump shook the ceiling. Dust rained down. The dragging grew louder… closer… then—
The entire staircase went dark.
Not regular darkness—more like a black fog swallowing each step one by one.
Alex took a slow breath, eyes narrowing. "We have to move. Whatever that is, it's coming down."
Leo's flashlight beam cut through the darkness… but only for a moment. Something absorbed the light, devoured it, like a mouth closing around the beam. The fog twitched.
Then it spoke.
Not with a voice, but with a sound like hundreds of whispers piled on top of each other:
"You heard me wake… now you must see me too…"
Evelyn stumbled back, her hand brushing against the wall—only to feel it pulse as if it were breathing.
"Guys—this house is reacting to it!" she cried.
Alex grabbed her wrist. "Stay close. No one splits up."
The fog spilled downward faster, stretching, reaching toward them as if it wanted to wrap around their ankles.
Sophie's voice shook. "Alex… it's coming!"
"Run!" Alex barked.
They bolted down the hallway, but as they passed each door, they slammed open on their own, revealing glimpses of things they wished they hadn't seen—twisted limbs, empty faces, shadows crawling across ceilings like insects.
The whispers grew louder.
"Look… look… look…"
Leo turned, swinging a metal rod at the fog. Instead of hitting it, the rod bent in half like it had struck a wall of stone.
"What the—?!"
"Don't touch it!" Evelyn yelled.
But the fog was faster than all of them. It surged forward and grazed Sophie's arm, leaving a long black mark that sizzled like acid.
She screamed.
Alex caught her before she fell. "Sophie! Stay with me!"
The black mark pulsed under her skin like something alive.
Sophie's eyes glazed for a moment—then sharpened again. "It wants… me to see something," she whispered shakily. "It's showing me… rooms that don't exist…"
Leo stepped closer, breath trembling. "We need to get it off her. Now."
The fog shifted, forming a tall, thin silhouette at the bottom of the stairs. Its head tilted, as if observing them. Watching their panic. Studying them.
Evelyn felt tears sting her eyes. "Why us? Why does it keep choosing us?"
Alex tightened his grip on Sophie. His eyes didn't leave the shadowy figure.
"It's simple," he said."Because we're the only ones who survived it this long."
The silhouette twitched.
And then—
It started walking toward them.