The handwritten sign plastered to my door was not something I could miss. ‘Rent due on Monday: don’t be fucking late this time.’ Living with my best mate’s sister had been working out reasonably well, and to be fair, I felt terrible about being behind on rent so often, but I still wished Hazel would find a less passive-aggressive way of reminding me. If only my parents had bought me my own place after I’d graduated college, I’d get to be the one behaving like an overprivileged asshole, I reflected, before tearing the sign off the door and entering my bedroom. I flopped down onto my bed, exhausted after another morning of fruitless job searching. I knew I would have…

You shuffle across the parking lot to your car, exhausted after working all morning, but excited because it was finally April 2nd. A friend is coming to visit. He drove from Gable Mel, Georgia, and you cannot wait to see him. Your boyfriend Lander has taken the day off and is waiting for you to get home. As you drive down the road in your busted car, you catch glimpses of your emerald eyes and the puffy white clouds in the rearview mirror. The sky is turning grey as you pull into the parking lot of the Pinewood Village Apartments. You let your hand caress the gear shift and push it into park. When you swing open the door noises…

Chapter 1: The Arrival My name is Emily Parker, and I’ve always been drawn to the mysteries of the supernatural. So, when rumors of a haunted mansion hidden deep in the woods reached my ears, I couldn’t resist the pull of curiosity. Little did I know that my quest for answers would lead me into the heart of darkness itself. The forest around me was alive with the sounds of the night, a cacophony of rustling leaves and chirping insects that seemed to whisper secrets in the darkness. The moon hung low in the sky, its feeble light struggling to penetrate the thick canopy of trees that surrounded me. The mansion, a looming silhouette against the night sky, seemed to…

I remember that night all too vividly, as if the memories were etched into my very soul. It was a cold, moonless evening, the kind that sends shivers down your spine and makes you wish for the warmth and safety of home. But little did I know that home would offer no sanctuary from the horrors that awaited me. We were gathered around the campfire, a group of friends seeking refuge from the darkness that enveloped the forest like a shroud. The flames danced and flickered, casting eerie shadows upon the trees that loomed ominously in the distance. It was then that I first heard it, a faint rustling in the underbrush that sent a chill down my spine. At…