Wendy sat on a worn velvet chair in the dimly lit ballroom of the Overlook Hotel, the air thick with dust and memories. She clutched a cigarette, the smoke spiraling upwards in ghostly tendrils, mingling with the oppressive silence that wrapped around her like a suffocating shroud. The shimmering chandeliers overhead flickered sporadically, casting erratic shadows across the room that danced like her own racing thoughts.

Her heart raced in response to the haunting echoes of the hotel. With each drag, she sought solace, a moment of escape from the chaos bubbling just below the surface of her life. Jack’s laughter had turned into a low growl, a warning lingering in the back of her mind, while Danny's innocent eyes were filled with unfathomable dread—dread that mirrored her own as the walls whispered secrets of madness and blood.

As she watched the smoke coil and dissipate, Wendy was momentarily transported back to a time before the Overlook haunted her. She remembered days spent under the sun with Danny, carefree and full of hope. But those days felt like a lifetime ago, swallowed by the hotel’s insatiable thirst for despair. The past clawed at her, reminding her of her failures, of the moments she couldn’t protect her son from Jack, from the malevolent spirits lurking in the shadows.

Taking another drag, she felt the burn in her lungs, a reminder of her own fragility. But lurking behind that fragility was an iron will forged in the fires of survival. She glanced around the ballroom, once a place of elegance, now a cavern of her fears. Drawing in the last of the smoke, she closed her eyes, envisioning strength. Tonight, she would not let the darkness claim her. Tonight, she would fight back.

Wendy crushed the smoldering cigarette into the ashtray, a small act of defiance. The Overlook may have taken so much, but it would not take her will to survive. With steely resolve, she rose, ready to confront the ghosts that threatened her family, even if it meant facing the man she once loved.