The watching house
The house stood quiet in the distance, its windows dark and empty. Matt and Jess stood in front of it, not sure if they should go inside. The air felt heavy, thick with something they couldn't explain.
"I don't want to be here," Jess whispered, her voice shaking. "This place... it feels wrong."
Matt didn't say anything. He felt the same way. But they had to know what happened. They had to understand.
"It's all connected," he muttered. "The doll. The mirror. Mary..."
Jess turned to him, eyes wide. "We can't change what happened. But we can't leave without knowing what's really going on."
They stepped toward the door. It was closed but not locked, as if it was waiting for them. With a deep breath, Matt pushed it open. The creak of the door echoed through the empty house.
The air inside was cold. The floors creaked under their feet. They stepped cautiously, the silence almost too loud.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, Matt saw it. A figure, standing at the end of the hallway. His heart stopped.
"Who's there?" he called, voice trembling.
But the figure didn't move. It was just standing, still and silent.
"It's her," Jess whispered. "It's Mary."
The figure stepped forward, slowly. And then Matt saw her face. It wasn't Mary anymore. Her eyes were dark, empty, like holes that could swallow you whole. Her smile was stretched wide, too wide, like it wasn't even real.
The air grew colder. The shadows seemed to grow longer, stretching toward them, reaching out.
"This isn't her," Matt said, his voice a whisper. "This is something else."
The figure didn't answer. Instead, it took another step forward, its eyes locked on them. The floor beneath their feet shuddered. The house groaned like it was alive, and Matt felt the ground pull him down.
Suddenly, the lights flickered, and the house seemed to come to life. The walls twisted. The air was thick with whispers, voices calling from every direction.
Jess grabbed Matt's arm. "We need to get out of here!"
But the door slammed shut, trapping them inside.
And that's when they heard it. A voice, low and cold, coming from all around them.
"You should never have come back," it whispered. "Now, you'll be part of it forever."
The shadows closed in. The figure of Mary laughed, but it wasn't her voice anymore. It was something darker, something that had been waiting for them.
Matt tried to move, but his feet wouldn't obey. The house was pulling them deeper, into its darkness.
And then, everything went black.
---
When they woke up, the house was silent. The door was open. The shadows were gone.
The air felt... normal.
But when Matt looked down, the locket they had found earlier was in his hand again. He opened it. The photo inside had changed.
Now, it showed Mary. But this time, she was smiling—truly smiling—and standing behind them.
The photo was different. Something had shifted. Something had changed.
And behind Mary, in the background, was a figure they hadn't seen before.
A shadow. Watching. Waiting.