Kallie ran her fingers along the banister of the grand staircase, tracing the intricate carvings worn smooth by time. The house was beautiful, no doubt, a towering Victorian with ornate woodwork, sprawling rooms, and windows that stretched high enough to let the morning light pour in like liquid gold. It had been empty for decades, sitting silent on the edge of town, waiting.
Now, it was theirs.
She glanced over at Cameron, who was bent over a box labeled Kitchen, his dark waves falling into his eyes as he ripped the tape free. He grinned when he caught her staring.
“You like it?” he asked.
Kallie hesitated. “Yeah, of course.”
And she did, mostly. The house had an undeniable charm, the kind of place she’d dreamed of raising a family in. She could already picture it: the creak of little feet running through the halls, their future children playing hide-and-seek in the nooks and alcoves, the two of them curled up on the window seat with a blanket and coffee on rainy mornings.
But beneath the warmth of that vision, something gnawed at her.
A feeling.
It wasn’t the rumors. She’d heard them—the whispers of tragedy, the hushed warnings from the older folks at the hardware store when they mentioned where they were moving. A story about a man and his wife, a love that had turned to something dark, something violent. But stories were just that, stories.
Still… She pushed the thought aside and grabbed another box, forcing herself to focus on the excitement of the moment.
The first night in the house was almost perfect. They ate pizza on the living room floor, surrounded by half-unpacked boxes, laughing over silly memories and making plans for renovations. The fireplace crackled softly, casting flickering shadows against the deep mahogany walls.
If not for the draft, it would’ve been cozy.
No matter how many blankets they piled on the bed, the chill lingered, a slow, creeping cold that wrapped around Kallie’s ankles, slithered along her spine. Cameron mumbled something in his sleep, shifting closer, his body radiating warmth, but it didn’t help.
She lay awake long after he drifted off, staring at the ceiling, listening.
The house settled around them, the old wood groaning, the wind whispering through the eaves.
But beneath it all, something else.
A breath? A sigh? She wasn’t sure.
Kallie squeezed her eyes shut and told herself it was nothing.
Just the house adjusting.
Just the wind.
Just…
A floorboard creaked in the hallway.
Kallie let out a low gasp as the floorboard groaned in the hallway. She held perfectly still, listening, waiting.
Nothing followed.
She exhaled slowly, pressing her hand against her chest to calm her racing heart. It was just the house settling. Old wood shifted, expanded, contracted with the cold, totally normal.
Still, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling that the sound hadn’t come from the structure of the house, but from something moving within it.
She buried herself deeper under the blankets, forcing her eyes closed. Eventually, exhaustion won over, and she drifted into a restless sleep.
A biting chill seeped into her bones, dragging her from sleep far too early. Kallie groaned and reached for the blankets, expecting the comforting weight to be there. But her fingers grasped at nothing but the cool fabric of the sheet beneath her.
Her eyes fluttered open. The blankets were gone.
She sat up, rubbing her arms to warm herself, her breath fogging in the frigid air. The room was dim, the early morning light barely breaking through the heavy curtains. She turned to Cameron, ready to complain about him hogging the covers…
And froze. The blankets weren’t just on the floor. They were across the room.
A tangled heap of fabric sat near the door, too far to have simply slid off the bed.
Kallie stared at them, her mind struggling to make sense of it. Had Cameron tossed them in his sleep? But even if he had, there was no way they would have ended up over there.
A slow, creeping unease settled over her.
She reached out, nudging Cameron’s shoulder.
“Cam,” she whispered, her voice hushed in the quiet.
He groaned in response, shifting but not waking.
“Cameron,” she tried again, this time shaking him.
He grumbled and turned his face toward her, eyes squinting open. “What…?” His voice was heavy with sleep.
“The blankets.”
“What about them?”
She pointed.
Cameron blinked blearily, following her gaze. His expression remained blank for a second, but then his brows furrowed, and he sat up straighter. “What the hell…?”
Kallie pulled her knees to her chest, rubbing her arms against the cold. “Did you…”
“No,” he said immediately. “I didn’t touch them.”
Silence stretched between them.
Kallie swallowed hard. “Then how did they get over there?”
Cameron swung his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing his face. “Maybe we kicked them off in our sleep.”
“That far?”
He hesitated. “I don’t know. Maybe?”
Kallie didn’t reply.
Because deep down, she knew.
That wasn’t normal.
Downstairs now, Kallie wrapped her hands around her coffee mug, savoring the warmth as she stood by the kitchen window. The morning sunlight did little to chase away the lingering chill from the night before.
Cameron leaned against the counter, scrolling through his phone. “I’ll call someone to check out the heater today. It’s probably nothing major, but this place shouldn’t be this cold.”
She nodded, though her thoughts were elsewhere, on the blankets, on the strange feeling she just couldn’t shake.
Cameron stepped forward and kissed her forehead. “It’s a new house, babe. We’re just getting used to it.”
Maybe he was right. Maybe it was just the nerves of settling in.
He grabbed his keys and slung his bag over his shoulder. “Call me if you need anything. I’ll be back around six.”
She walked him to the door, watching as he got into his car and pulled out of the long driveway. The house already felt different without him in it, too big and too quiet.
Kallie exhaled and shook her head, pushing away the unease. You’re being ridiculous.
She refilled her coffee, grabbed her laptop, and settled into the old oak desk in the living room. Writing had always been her escape, and maybe that’s exactly what she needed… focus on her story, get lost in something that wasn’t the gnawing feeling in her gut.
She had just opened her document when she heard it.
Thump. Thump. Thump-thump-thump-thump.
Her fingers froze over the keyboard.
The sound was unmistakable, heavy, hurried footsteps, running across the floor above her.
Her stomach twisted.
Slowly, she shut her laptop and placed it aside, her ears straining. The old house creaked, but this was different.
This was movement.
Kallie rose from her chair, heart pounding as she stepped cautiously toward the staircase. She stopped at the bottom, staring up at the second floor, willing herself to listen.
Silence.
And then… A whisper.
So faint she almost wasn’t sure she’d heard it at all.
Her breath caught in her throat.
She swallowed and took a hesitant step forward. “Hello?”
Nothing.
Kallie stood there, waiting, her pulse thrumming in her ears. The silence stretched so long it became oppressive and suffocating.
She wasn’t sure what was worse, the sound she thought she’d heard, or the absolute stillness that followed.
A fresh wave of cold rolled through the house, raising goosebumps on her arms.
No.
No, she wasn’t doing this alone.
She spun on her heel and grabbed her phone from the desk, fingers trembling as she hit Cameron’s name in her contacts.
He answered on the third ring. “Hey, what’s up?”
“There’s someone in the house,” she blurted, voice barely above a whisper.
Cameron’s tone immediately sharpened. “What? Kallie, what do you mean?”
“I—I heard something upstairs. Footsteps. Running.”
He was quiet for a second. “Are you sure it wasn’t the house settling?”
Her grip on the phone tightened. “It wasn’t the house, Cameron. It was running. And then I swear I heard whispering.”
The line crackled with his sharp exhale. “Lock the doors. I’m coming home.”
Kallie nodded, even though Cameron couldn’t see her. She hurried to the front door, double-checking the lock, then did the same with the back. Her hands were shaking as she gripped her phone, pressing it against her ear.
“I don’t see anything,” she whispered, peering out the window toward the driveway. The yard was empty. No signs of movement.
“Stay where you are,” Cameron said firmly. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Kallie swallowed, inching away from the window. “Just hurry.”
She ended the call and took a deep breath, forcing herself to think. It had to be explainable. Old houses made noise, wood expanded, drafts moved through hidden spaces. But running? That wasn’t normal.
Neither was whispering.
She grabbed the fire poker from the stand beside the fireplace. It wasn’t much, but it was better than standing there defenseless.
Minutes passed.
Silence settled around her again, heavy and thick. Kallie gripped the iron rod tighter, shifting from foot to foot. She just needed to wait for Cameron.
Then, from upstairs…
A soft creak.
She gasped.
It was subtle. So quiet she almost dismissed it. Almost.
She stared at the staircase, heart hammering.
Another creak.
Step.
Kallie’s pulse roared in her ears. Someone, or something, was moving, slowly this time. Deliberate. As if aware she was listening.
Her whole body locked up, every muscle frozen in place. The air in the room felt heavier, the temperature dropping yet again.
Move, Kallie.
Her legs finally obeyed. She backed away, inching toward the front door.
Then the whispering started again.
Clearer this time. Right at the top of the stairs.
She still couldn’t make out the words, but the tone made her stomach flip. It was hushed, insistent, like a conversation she wasn’t supposed to hear.
Kallie’s breath came fast, unsteady.
The sound of tires crunching gravel outside sent relief crashing over her.
Cameron.
She bolted for the door and flung it open just as his car skidded to a stop. He was already halfway out before she could speak.
“What happened?” he demanded, his eyes scanning her, then darting up toward the house.
Kallie shivered, gripping the fire poker so hard her knuckles turned white. “It’s not just noises, Cam. Someone’s in there.”
His expression darkened. He stepped past her, pushing through the doorway before she could protest.
Kallie hesitated, then followed, her heart thundering as she crossed back into the house.
Cameron moved carefully, his posture tense, scanning every corner. He walked to the staircase, head tilted slightly as if listening.
More silence.
“Kallie,” he said slowly, turning back to her. “Are you sure you…”
A loud crash exploded from upstairs.
Both of them jerked toward the sound.
Cameron didn’t hesitate. He bolted up the stairs two at a time, vanishing down the hallway.
Kallie’s entire body screamed for her to stay put, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t letting him go up there alone.
She forced her feet forward, following him up, holding the fire poker so tight her palms burned.
When she reached the landing, she found Cameron standing in the middle of the hall, staring at the open doorway to one of the bedrooms.
“Kallie,” he said, his voice unnervingly calm.
She swallowed. “What?”
He stepped aside.
Kallie’s stomach plummeted.
Inside the room, the old wooden wardrobe they hadn’t even touched since moving in was tipped over, its heavy doors hanging open.
And on the floor, written in the dust covering the wood…
GET OUT.
Kallie’s breath caught in her throat as she stared at the words scrawled into the dust. Her mind refused to process it.
This wasn’t normal. This wasn’t possible.
Cameron took her arm, his grip firm. “We’re leaving. Now.”
She didn’t argue.
They turned and rushed down the stairs, feet pounding against the worn wood. Kallie’s chest felt tight, every breath too shallow, her pulse hammering.
Cameron reached the front door first. He twisted the lock, yanked the handle.
Nothing.
His jaw clenched as he pulled harder. The door didn’t budge. Not even an inch.
“What the hell?” He shook it violently, but the frame didn’t so much as creak. It was as if the wood had fused together, sealing them inside.
Kallie’s stomach lurched. “Try the back door.”
They sprinted through the house, nearly tripping over unpacked boxes in their rush. Cameron reached for the back door, twisting the knob…
Locked.
He unlocked it, but when he tried to pull it open, it wouldn’t move.
Kallie grabbed her phone, her fingers fumbling to unlock it. She went straight to Cameron’s contact and pressed Call.
Nothing happened.
Her heart sank. The little No Service symbol in the corner of the screen sent a wave of panic through her.
Cameron was already dialing 911, but his phone had the same issue. He cursed under his breath, trying again. Still nothing.
The silence that followed was deafening.
No wind. No creaking floorboards. Not even the distant hum of the heater.
Nothing.
Kallie clutched her arms, the cold creeping deeper into her bones. She turned in slow circles, scanning the room. “What does it want?” she whispered.
Cameron ran a hand through his hair, his movements sharp, frustrated. “I don’t know. But we’re not playing this game.”
He stormed into the kitchen and yanked open drawers, searching for tools. “I’ll break a damn window if I have to.”
Kallie followed, every nerve in her body screaming. She expected something, anything, to happen. A slam. A whisper. Another message scrawled into the dust.
But the house stayed silent.
It was worse than the noise.
It was taunting them.
Cameron grabbed a heavy metal hammer from one of the moving boxes. He marched toward the nearest window and swung…
CLANG.
The hammer bounced back like it had struck solid steel.
Cameron barely managed to keep hold of it. He staggered back, staring at the perfectly intact glass.
Kallie’s breath came fast and panicked. “Did that just…”
He tried again.
Same result.
His hands curled into fists. His chest rose and fell in sharp, measured breaths. He was trying to stay calm, but Kallie could see the fear in his hazel eyes.
They were trapped.
Kallie swallowed hard and pressed her back against the counter, sliding down to sit on the cold tile floor. “What do we do?”
Cameron didn’t answer right away. He paced the kitchen, running both hands through his hair.
Then, he stopped.
“We wait,” he said grimly.
Kallie looked up at him. “For what?”
His jaw tightened. “For it to show its hand.”
So they waited.
Hours passed.
The house stayed silent.
Not a whisper. Not a creak.
Just endless, taunting nothing.
The hours crawled by, stretching into an unbearable stillness.
Kallie sat curled up on the couch, arms wrapped around her legs, trying to convince herself that the silence was better than the alternative. But she knew the house wasn’t done with them.
It was waiting.
Cameron sat across from her in the armchair, his eyes moved toward the windows every so often, his leg bouncing restlessly. They had given up trying to force their way out. The house wasn’t letting them leave.
Outside, the sky darkened into deep shades of blue and black. The only light inside came from the soft glow of a single lamp they had switched on earlier, casting long shadows against the walls.
Kallie exhaled slowly. “Maybe we should…”
A thud cut her off.
Her heart jumped into her throat.
It came from upstairs.
A single, heavy impact.
Cameron stiffened, his head snapping toward the staircase.
Thump. Thump.
A slow, deliberate pattern, as if someone, or something, was descending step by step.
Kallie felt her body lock up.
Cameron was already moving, standing up, muscles tense. His eyes shot to her, silently asking if she heard it too.
She nodded.
The air in the room thickened, heavy and stifling, like the walls were closing in.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The steps stopped.
Right at the bottom of the staircase.
Cameron inhaled sharply through his nose. He took a slow step forward, muscles coiled, ready for anything.
Then the lamp flickered.
The room darkened for half a second, just long enough to get a reaction.
And then the whispering started again.
But this time, it was different.
This time, it was close.
A breathy, layered chorus of voices, overlapping in hushed urgency. Too many voices. Too many words at once.
Kallie clapped her hands over her ears, her pulse thundering. “Cameron…”
A sharp crack echoed through the house.
The lamp shattered.
Darkness swallowed them whole.
The shattered lamp left nothing but suffocating blackness, so thick Kallie swore she could feel it pressing in on her skin. Her breath came in short, frantic gasps, her heart hammering in her chest.
The whispering grew.
No longer soft. No longer distant.
It was right there. Surrounding them.
Too many voices, layered on top of each other, children, adults, something else. Their words blurred together, a frantic, desperate jumble that made Kallie’s skull ache.
She squeezed her hands over her ears, but it didn’t help. The whispers weren’t just sounds anymore. They were inside her head.
Then came the footsteps.
Fast. Rushing.
Coming straight toward them.
Kallie barely had time to react before the air around her exploded with movement. A force slammed into her, knocking her backward against the couch. The cushions did nothing to soften the impact, her ribs ached, her breath whooshing out in a sharp gasp.
Cameron shouted, his voice raw.
Something rushed past her, impossibly cold, like a wave of air pulled straight from the dead of winter.
And then…
A child’s laugh.
Short. High-pitched. Playful.
But wrong. So wrong.
The sound was everywhere, bouncing off the walls, echoing through the house like a warped recording.
Kallie’s heart beat against her chest. She pushed herself up, her hands trembling, searching the pitch-black room for Cameron. “Cam?” Her voice came out too small, too fragile.
No response.
A sharp scraping sound came from the far side of the room.
Then another laugh.
Closer.
The air turned ice-cold, her breath fogging in front of her face.
Something brushed her hair.
Not the wind.
Not a draft.
Fingers.
Small. Too cold.
Kallie screamed.
She scrambled backward, slamming against the coffee table, her limbs shaking so violently she could barely move. “CAMERON!”
Suddenly, his hand found her wrist, yanking her up. “I’m here, I’m here,” he breathed. His voice was shaking.
A heavy BANG rattled the walls, so loud it made Kallie’s ears ring.
Then… everything stopped.
The whispers. The laughter. The scraping.
Silence crashed over them.
Kallie was frozen, too afraid to breathe, waiting for the next thing to happen.
Cameron held onto her, his grip tight. His chest rose and fell in ragged breaths, and even in the dark, she knew he was just as terrified as she was.
A soft creak came from upstairs.
Kallie felt it before she saw it.
Something was watching them.
Her eyes flicked up to the staircase.
And there, standing at the very top, was a figure.
Tall. Motionless.
Completely wrong.
Its shape was just a silhouette in the dark, but Kallie didn’t need to see details to know.
It wasn’t human. And it wasn’t alone.
Because behind it, two smaller figures shifted in the shadows.
Watching. Waiting.
And then, they moved.
Cameron yanked Kallie back before she could even scream.
They bolted.
Kallie didn’t know where they were running, there was no safe place in this house, but instinct took over. Cameron pulled her toward the kitchen, their feet slamming against the old hardwood.
The house did not like that.
A deafening crash exploded behind them. The staircase splintered, the wood shrieking like it was being ripped apart.
The house was coming alive.
The walls groaned, the floors shuddered beneath them, as if the entire structure was breathing… moving.
BANG.
A cabinet door flew open and slammed shut violently, dishes inside shattering.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Every door in the house started slamming on its own, one after another, rhythmic and angry.
The kitchen lights flashed, then burst in a rain of glass, plunging them back into suffocating darkness.
“Where do we go?” Kallie choked out.
Cameron dragged her toward the pantry, ripping the door open and shoving her inside before cramming himself in behind her. He barely got the door shut when…
THUMP.
Something slammed against the other side.
Kallie clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to smother the ragged sound of her breathing.
They weren’t alone in the kitchen.
A low, scraping sound moved along the floor outside. Slow. Deliberate.
Like nails, or claws, dragging against the wood.
The whispering came again.
But now, it was right outside the door.
“Found you.”
The voice was soft. Playful.
A child.
Kallie’s entire body locked up.
Cameron gripped her hand so tight she thought her bones would break.
A tiny giggle floated through the crack in the door.
Then…
BANG.
The pantry door rattled violently.
Kallie choked on a scream.
Something was trying to get in.
The handle twisted. Slowly.
Cameron pressed his back against the door, holding it shut.
And once again, everything stopped.
The silence came crashing back down.
Suffocating.
Kallie barely dared to breathe. She could still feel the cold presence outside.
Just waiting.
Cameron shifted just slightly, enough to peer through the slats of the pantry door. His breath caught.
Kallie squeezed her eyes shut. “Don’t tell me what you see,” she whispered.
She felt Cameron go rigid beside her. His fingers dug into her wrist.
“Kallie,” he said, so quietly it was almost nothing.
She couldn’t look. She wouldn’t.
But the voice came again.
Too close.
Right on the other side of the door.
“Come out and play.”
The moment they burst out of the panty, the chaos erupted.
The air was full of whispers, rattling doors, and unseen things pressing in from all sides. Kallie’s chest ached from holding her breath, every muscle in her body locked with fear.
Cameron shifted around a bend and knocked against something over.
A soft clatter barely registered over the noise.
Neither of them noticed the small candle on the floor, the one Kallie had lit earlier in an attempt to bring warmth to their new home.
Neither of them saw the flame flicker against the dry wood.
The house did.
Everything escalated.
Cabinets burst open. Objects flew from shelves. The whispers turned to screams.
Then, the smell hit them first.
Thick, acrid smoke.
Kallie coughed, eyes stinging as she turned toward the smell. The once invisible cold was being replaced by something hot.
Fire.
It was everywhere.
The kitchen had become an inferno. The flames crawled up the walls, licking at the ceiling. The dry, old house fed the fire like it had been waiting for this moment.
A wall of flame cut them off from the exit.
Cameron yanked his shirt over his mouth, coughing violently. “Kallie, get low!”
She dropped, pressing herself as close to the floor as she could. The smoke thickened, turning the air black and heavy.
They were trapped.
This was it.
This was…
A giggle.
Soft. Light.
Impossible.
Kallie lifted her head.
Through the thick haze, a small figure appeared.
A little girl.
She wasn’t solid. Her form shimmered like a dying candle, but her face, her smile, was so clear.
Kallie’s gasped.
The little girl clasped her hands behind her back, tilting her head playfully. Her pale, translucent curls bounced with the movement.
Her lips curled into a bright, genuine grin.
“Thank you,” she said.
The house groaned.
The flames shifted.
Kallie turned toward the front door.
Where there had been nothing but fire, there was now a path.
A perfect, intentional opening leading straight to the exit.
And the door…
The door stood wide open.
Beyond it, fresh air. Freedom.
Kallie turned back to the little girl, stunned.
She was still smiling.
“Go, silly,” the girl said with a giggle.
Kallie didn’t think. She grabbed Cameron’s arm and ran.
Flames raged around them, snapping at their heels.
They didn’t stop. Not until their feet hit the grass, not until the cool night air rushed into their lungs.
Not until they were far, far away.
Cameron bent over, coughing, gripping his knees. Kallie collapsed onto the ground, staring back at the house, her chest heaving.
It was completely engulfed now.
The fire roared, consuming everything.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Someone must have seen the flames and called for help.
But it was too late.
The house was done.
A deep, aching creak came from within, the structure giving in to the inferno.
Kallie’s hands trembled as she wiped the soot from her face.
Her gaze moving back toward the house.
And there, just for a moment, she thought she saw them.
Four figures standing in the flames.
A man. A woman.
Two small children.
The little girl lifted her hand, giving a soft, playful wave.
Then, the house collapsed.
And they were gone.
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