Chapter 41
The deep night inside Garrick Mansion was unusually oppressive. The vast house, as majestic as it seemed by day, felt just as empty and cold once night fell. The corridors were shrouded in darkness, the curtains in the distant windows stirred lightly when the wind pushed against them, and the wooden floors would occasionally creak as if someone were treading unknowingly.
Garrick could no longer dismiss these sounds as "just the house making its usual noises." He could no longer call them "just the house's normal sounds." One fear echoed in his mind—he was alone, and that loneliness made him the most vulnerable.
But a heavy sound from the corridor shattered that thought. At first, the sound was distant, then it came a little closer, then stopped again. Garrick held his breath,
