THE DEVIL'S CONSPIRACY Chapter 7: The voice in the dark
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THE DEVIL’S CONSPIRACY
Chapter 7: The Voice in the Dark
“Michael…”
Sarah grabbed his arm.
“Run.”
The lights went out.
And somewhere beneath the house, something laughed.
Michael couldn't see Sarah anymore.
He could only feel her fingers wrapped tightly around his wrist.
“Don't let go,” she whispered.
“I can't see anything.”
“Neither can I.”
Something moved in the darkness.
Not footsteps.
A slow dragging sound came from the corridor ahead.
Michael held his breath.
Sarah pulled him toward the wall.
“Quiet.”
The dragging stopped.
For several seconds, there was nothing.
Then a voice spoke from the darkness.
“Michael…”
Michael's heart nearly stopped.
It was his voice.
Sarah's hand tightened around his wrist.
“Don't answer.”
The voice came again.
“Michael…”
This time, it sounded closer.
Michael whispered, “That's not me.”
“No,” Sarah replied.
“Then who is it?”
Sarah didn't answer.
A faint light suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor.
Michael could just make out the shape of a man standing there.
Tall.
Still.
Watching them.
Michael stared.
The figure slowly stepped forward.
One step.
Then another.
Sarah pulled Michael backward.
But Michael couldn't look away.
The figure stopped beneath the weak light.
Michael's stomach dropped.
The face staring back at him was his own.
It was Michael.
Or something wearing his face.
The stranger smiled.
“It's been a long time.”
Michael couldn't speak.
Sarah stepped in front of him.
“Stay away from him.”
The figure laughed.
“You still protect him.”
Michael looked at Sarah.
“You know him?”
Sarah didn't respond.
The figure tilted its head.
“She knows me very well.”
“Who are you?” Michael finally asked.
The stranger's smile disappeared.
“I am the part of you that your grandmother buried.”
Michael felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
“You don't remember?”
“No.”
The stranger took another step.
“You were never supposed to.”
Sarah suddenly shouted, “Michael, don't listen to him!”
The stranger looked at her.
“Tell him what happened.”
Sarah remained silent.
“Tell him about the first night.”
Michael turned toward her.
“What first night?”
Sarah's eyes filled with fear.
“The night you came here as a child.”
Michael's mind went blank.
“I've never been here before.”
The stranger smiled.
“You've said that before.”
A sharp pain struck Michael's head.
He stumbled.
Images flashed through his mind.
A little boy.
A dark basement.
His grandmother kneeling in front of him.
A black stone door.
And another boy standing beside it.
The same face.
The same eyes.
The same frightened expression.
Michael gasped.
“I've seen this.”
Sarah caught him before he fell.
“What did you see?”
“Two boys.”
The stranger whispered:
“Two Michaels.”
Michael looked at him.
“What happened to the other one?”
The stranger's expression became strangely sad.
“He died.”
“Who killed him?”
The stranger looked directly at Michael.
“You did.”
Michael froze.
“No.”
“You were there.”
“No.”
“You watched.”
Michael shook his head.
“I was a child.”
“Yes.”
The stranger stepped closer.
“And that's why you don't remember.”
Suddenly, a loud knock came from beneath the floor.
BANG.
Sarah jumped.
The stranger didn't move.
Another knock.
BANG.
This time, the entire house trembled.
Michael looked down.
“What is that?”
The stranger's eyes darkened.
“The reason your family made the bargain.”
Michael remembered the diary.
1954.
Malachar.
The bloodline.
The sacrifice.
“What is beneath this house?”
The stranger whispered:
“Something older than Malachar.”
Michael's chest tightened.
“Malachar serves it.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does it want me?”
The stranger stared at him.
“Because you were promised.”
Sarah suddenly stepped forward.
“That's not the whole truth.”
The stranger looked at her.
“No?”
Sarah's voice trembled.
“The bargain was changed.”
Michael turned toward her.
“What bargain?”
Sarah hesitated.
“Your grandmother changed it.”
“When?”
“Years ago.”
Michael's anger rose.
“Tell me!”
Sarah finally looked into his eyes.
“She couldn't sacrifice you.”
The stranger interrupted.
“So she sacrificed someone else.”
Michael looked at him.
“Who?”
The stranger pointed toward Sarah.
Michael slowly turned.
Sarah's face went pale.
“No.”
The stranger smiled.
“She knows.”
Michael stepped away from her.
“Sarah?”
“I didn't—”
“Who did she sacrifice?”
Sarah's eyes filled with tears.
“Michael, please.”
“Who?”
The house suddenly became silent.
Then Sarah whispered:
“Me.”
Michael stared at her.
“What?”
“I was supposed to die twelve years ago.”
The stranger nodded.
“Your grandmother made a different choice.”
Michael remembered Chapter 4.
The message on his phone:
THE GIRL BESIDE YOU DIED TWELVE YEARS AGO.
His breathing became shallow.
“You're dead?”
Sarah looked down.
“I don't know what I am anymore.”
The stranger spoke softly.
“She isn't Sarah anymore.”
Michael stepped backward.
“Then who is she?”
Sarah looked at him.
For the first time, there was no fear in her eyes.
Only sadness.
“I was the last person your grandmother sacrificed.”
The floor cracked.
A dark line spread between Michael and Sarah.
From beneath it came a low breathing sound.
Something was waking.
The stranger suddenly looked toward the basement.
“We have to go.”
Michael stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because it knows you've remembered.”
The black key in Michael's pocket began vibrating.
Michael pulled it out.
The moment he did, every door in the hallway slammed open.
At the end of the corridor stood a black stone doorway.
Michael recognized it immediately.
The same door from his memories.
The same door from the diary.
The same door he had opened before.
Except this time, it was already open.
Darkness filled the entrance.
A voice came from inside.
Not Malachar.
Not Sarah.
Not the stranger.
Something older.
Something enormous.
“Michael.”
The stranger dropped to his knees.
Sarah covered her ears.
Michael couldn't move.
The voice continued.
“Come home.”
Michael's hand tightened around the black key.
Then he remembered something his grandmother had told him when he was a child.
A memory he had forgotten until now.
She had held his face between her hands and whispered:
“If the door ever calls you by your name, don't answer.”
Michael looked at the open doorway.
The voice called again.
“Michael.”
He remained silent.
Then the voice changed.
It became his grandmother's voice.
“My child.”
Michael's eyes filled with tears.
Sarah whispered:
“Don't listen.”
But the voice continued.
“I was trying to save you.”
Michael stepped toward the doorway.
Sarah grabbed him.
“No!”
Michael looked at her.
“It's my grandmother.”
Sarah shook her head.
“No, Michael.”
The voice inside the doorway laughed.
And this time, Michael recognized the sound.
It was the same laughter he had heard beneath the house.
The stranger stood behind him.
His voice was barely audible.
“Now you understand.”
Michael turned.
“Understand what?”
The stranger pointed at the black door.
“That isn't the entrance.”
Michael stared.
“Then what is it?”
The stranger's face went pale.
“It is the mouth.”
The darkness inside the doorway suddenly moved.
Something reached toward them.
Michael raised the black key.
The creature stopped.
And for one terrifying second, Michael heard hundreds of voices speaking together.
All of them said the same thing:
“Choose.”
Then the door began to close.
And on the other side of it, Michael saw something that made him forget how to breathe.
A little boy was standing in the darkness.
A boy with Michael's face.
The boy smiled.
And whispered:
“You left me here.”
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