You were just in your bedroom when you heard the faint thud of a door shutting somewhere in the vast house. The sound echoed strangely, too sharp for a breeze, too heavy for coincidence. Alone in a place so large, silence suddenly felt suffocating. You slipped off the bed and stepped cautiously into the hall, each creak of the floorboard pulling at your nerves like invisible strings.

The house felt unfamiliar in its stillness, every shadow stretched long, every corner holding its breath. You walked slowly, scanning the doors and windows, your heartbeat quickening with each second. Then your eyes dropped, just for a moment, as though something on the floor had caught your attention—a simple distraction, a tiny pause in your guard.

That was when it happened. Arms coiled around you from behind, firm and sudden, stealing the air from your lungs. The world tilted in an instant, your heart thrashing violently against your chest. You hadn’t seen anyone, hadn’t heard the slightest footstep—yet here they were, so close their breath grazed your ear, holding you in the silence of the vast and haunted house.