The hallway that changed
544 Words
Chapter 5
Susan ran barefoot through the corridor, her heart pounding so hard it hurt.
Behind her, the scream still echoed through the house—high, sharp, and unnatural. It didn’t sound human anymore. It sounded like something furious at losing its chance.
She nearly slipped as she reached the staircase.
“Mom!” she shouted. “Mom, where are you?!”
No answer.
The house felt wrong.
Too quiet.
Too empty.
Even the air seemed heavier now, pressing against her chest as she stumbled down the stairs clutching the journal tightly.
The lights flickered above her.
On.
Off.
On.
Off.
And for one terrifying second, during the darkness, she saw figures standing downstairs.
Watching her.
The lights came back.
Nothing was there.
Susan stopped at the bottom of the stairs, breathing hard. Her family photos still hung on the walls, but something about them had changed.
She stepped closer.
In every picture, the faces were scratched out.
Every single one.
A cold fear crawled through her stomach.
“No…”
The journal suddenly grew warm in her hands.
New words appeared rapidly across the page.
“It is looking for a face.”
Susan backed away from the pictures immediately.
A loud thud came from the kitchen.
Then another.
Like cabinet doors slamming shut.
She wanted to run outside, but the front door suddenly creaked open by itself.
Outside was darkness.
Not nighttime darkness.
Something deeper.
The streetlights were gone.
The neighboring houses had disappeared.
It was as if the world outside her home no longer existed.
Susan slammed the door shut immediately, locking it with trembling hands.
The journal wrote again.
“It has changed the house.”
“What does that mean?” Susan whispered desperately.
The words came slower this time.
“You are between places now.”
Before she could understand, the kitchen lights snapped on.
Susan turned slowly toward the doorway.
At first, everything looked normal.
Then she saw the footprints.
Wet black footprints leading across the floor.
Not entering the kitchen.
Leaving it.
Something had already been inside.
Susan’s chest tightened.
The footprints stretched farther into the living room… then stopped directly in front of her.
Silence.
Susan didn’t move.
Couldn’t move.
Then the television turned on by itself.
Static filled the screen.
A crackling voice emerged from it.
“Susan…”
Her blood ran cold.
The static shifted.
For a moment, she saw her own bedroom on the screen.
But the room wasn’t empty.
Something stood inside it.
Tall.
Twisted.
Its limbs bent the wrong way.
And in its long shadowy hands…
It held her broken mirror.
The creature slowly lifted its head toward the television screen.
Toward her.
Then the TV went black.
Susan stumbled backward.
The journal flipped pages violently again.
“IT FOUND THE MIRROR.”
The lights exploded.
Darkness swallowed the house completely.
And somewhere nearby—
A soft knocking began again.
Not at the door this time.
From inside the walls.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Susan covered her ears.
The knocking spread through the entire house now, coming from every direction at once.
Then all at once—
It stopped.
Silence.
A terrible silence.
And from upstairs, in Susan’s room, came the sound of slow footsteps.
Something was coming down the stairs.
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