Chapter 11: Not My Daughter
448 Words
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Evelyn stumbled backward.
Whatever she had pulled from the wall — it wasn’t her daughter.
Its skin looked like Lila’s.
Its voice sounded like Lila’s.
But the **eyes**…
They were too black. Too empty.
Like they had never known innocence.
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> “W-What are you?” Evelyn whispered.
The creature tilted its head, grinning.
> “She’s still here. Watching. Waiting. But not for you.”
Evelyn backed away slowly, heart hammering.
Then she heard it.
**A real voice.**
From the basement.
> “Mommy…”
**Lila.**
The real one.
Still trapped.
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Evelyn didn’t hesitate.
She grabbed the flashlight, threw open the basement door, and rushed down into the cold.
The darkness swallowed her whole, and with every step, she felt the house **fighting back**—the temperature dropping, the walls creaking, the stairs moaning.
She reached the bottom, breath visible in the air.
Then she saw her.
Lila.
Tied to a wooden chair.
Eyes wide.
Mouth gagged.
Alive.
Terrified.
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Evelyn ran to her, pulling the cloth from her mouth.
“Mommy!” Lila cried. “It’s not Rosie! It’s not Rosie!”
Evelyn froze.
“What do you mean?”
Lila’s voice trembled.
> “Rosie tried to help me… but something else lives here. Something darker. It calls itself the **Hollow Man**.”
Suddenly, the basement door slammed shut upstairs.
The bulb overhead shattered.
And from the shadows… he emerged.
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Tall.
Lanky.
Skin stretched like wax.
No eyes.
No mouth.
Just a **void** for a face.
The Hollow Man.
His presence sucked the air from the room.
Evelyn held her daughter close.
“You can’t have her,” she said. “Take me instead.”
The Hollow Man stood still.
Then slowly… he turned his head toward the old fireplace.
The bricks began to crumble.
Revealing something hidden behind it.
A **body.**
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Charred bones.
A melted locket.
Rosie.
Her final resting place had been sealed inside the wall.
A secret grave.
The Hollow Man pointed at it.
Then at Evelyn.
And whispered—not through words, but **inside her head**:
> “Truth… or blood.”
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Evelyn understood.
The house could only be freed with truth.
With justice.
And Evelyn had spent ten years hiding.
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She turned to Lila.
“I’m going to tell the police everything. About Rosie. About what I did. I won’t run anymore.”
A soft breeze passed through the basement.
Warm.
Calm.
And then — the Hollow Man was gone.
The cold lifted.
The whispers stopped.
Rosie’s bones… were still.
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Evelyn held Lila tight and whispered, “We’re going to be okay now.”
But somewhere deep in the house… something laughed.
- Writer
