whispers in the wall

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*Chapter 8: Aftermath*

The world went black.

For what felt like an eternity, there was nothing—just the oppressive, suffocating darkness and the echo of their own racing heartbeats. Eliza could feel the weight of the air pressing down on her, thick and heavy, as if the entire house had collapsed into itself.

Then, a snap.

The sensation of being pulled back into the world hit Eliza all at once—the harsh light of the basement bulb stinging her eyes, the coldness of the floor beneath her knees, the unbearable silence that seemed to settle like dust in the air.

She gasped for air, disoriented, her mind struggling to catch up to reality.

"Eliza…" Sean's voice broke through the fog, frantic, shaky. "Eliza, are you okay?"

She blinked, trying to focus. Sean was kneeling next to her, his face pale, his eyes wide with terror. But she noticed the faint tremor in his hands as he reached for her.

"I… I think we did it," Eliza said, her voice hoarse. Her throat was raw, as though she had been screaming for hours. She pushed herself to her feet, the world still spinning slightly around her.

The basement was quiet—eerily so. The oppressive presence that had consumed the house felt... gone. The walls no longer seemed to hum with that dark energy, and the house itself felt less like a living thing, more like an empty shell.

But there was no sense of relief. No peace. Just a hollow emptiness.

"We need to leave," Sean said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Now. Before it's too late."

Eliza nodded. She didn't need any more convincing. The house felt like it was holding its breath, waiting for something. Waiting for them to make a mistake.

They made their way up the stairs, their footsteps unsteady and slow. Every creak of the floorboards seemed amplified in the silence. The front door was just a few feet away—an exit from this nightmare. All they had to do was get to it.

But then, as they reached the door, a soft noise—almost imperceptible—caught Eliza's attention.

A whisper.

Her heart skipped a beat. It was too quiet to make out the words, but the voice was unmistakable. She spun toward the source, her pulse racing.

"Eliza…"

Her breath hitched as the world around her seemed to warp, the shadows in the corners of the room shifting as though something were moving just out of sight.

"No…" she gasped, her voice trembling. "No, we did it. It's over."

But as she turned back to the door, something caught her eye. A dark shape standing just outside the window. The faint outline of a figure, watching them.

Her blood ran cold.

Sean seemed to sense it too. He turned to face the window, his eyes widening as he followed her gaze. The figure outside remained still, its shape too distinct to ignore. It was tall, its limbs long and grotesque, almost like a twisted shadow. Its face—if it could be called a face—was a dark, swirling void, and the darkness around it seemed to thicken.

"Eliza… it didn't work," Sean whispered. "It never left. It's still here."

She turned to him, her heart pounding in her chest. "What are you talking about? We just—"

But her words died in her throat as she saw it.

The figure wasn't outside anymore.

It was inside.

The room around them seemed to warp as the shadows stretched, the walls bending inward, twisting with unnatural force. The figure that had stood outside now loomed before them, standing in the doorway. Its limbs, impossibly long and thin, reached out with a predatory grace, its hollow eyes locked on them.

"Eliza, run!" Sean screamed, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the back door.

But it was too late.

The air around them grew colder, and the entity's presence seemed to fill the room, pressing against them from all sides. The house—the *entire* house—seemed to vibrate with its fury, the walls shaking as though they were about to collapse.

"Eliza…" The voice echoed again, louder this time, the same whisper she'd heard in the walls.

And then, for the first time, Eliza saw it clearly. The thing that had been trapped in the house for so long. Its eyes—countless, swirling black orbs—fixed on her, and for the first time, she felt the full weight of its hunger.

It wanted to *consume* them. It wanted to destroy them.

"We need to finish it," Sean said, panic lacing his voice. "We didn't complete the ritual. We didn't do enough."

Eliza felt the floor beneath her tremble. The entity's presence pressed closer, suffocating them with its darkness. She could feel it pulling at her, *digging* into her mind, trying to twist her thoughts.

"Look at me, Eliza," Sean's voice broke through the chaos, shaky but insistent. "We need to finish it. We need to *trap* it back in the walls. Like Aunt Rosemary wrote in the last part of her diary. There's one more step."

Eliza's head was spinning. Her thoughts were clouded by fear, by the suffocating presence of the creature that was *right there*—looming, waiting for them to make a mistake. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think.

But she had to.

She forced herself to focus. The ritual. The final step.

The thing in front of them growled—a low, inhuman sound that reverberated through the very bones of the house. The walls creaked in response, groaning like they were alive.

"Now, Eliza!" Sean shouted, his voice hoarse. "Now!"

The last words of the ritual raced through her mind. She knew what she had to do. She knew what had to be done to break the seal once and for all.

She turned toward the thing—the monster that had been waiting in the house for so long—and for the first time, she didn't feel afraid. She *knew* what she had to do.

With every ounce of strength she could summon, Eliza forced herself to speak the final words of the ritual, the ancient chant that had been buried in her aunt's diary. The words echoed in the air, loud and clear, a command to the house, to the entity.

The house trembled violently, the walls shaking as if they were about to break apart. The entity screeched in fury, its form warping, distorting, as if it were being pulled back into the very walls of the house.

And then, with a final, deafening crack, everything stopped.

The entity was gone.

The house, once alive with its presence, now stood silent, the weight of the darkness lifting.

But as Eliza and Sean stood there, breathing heavily, their hearts still pounding with terror, Eliza couldn't shake the feeling that the battle wasn't over.

There was something still in the house, something watching.

*And it was waiting.*

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There we go—*the house* is quiet for now, but the lingering sense of dread still hangs heavy in the air. How do you feel about this Chapter, please let me know in the comment section, and don't forget to like, comment and gift me. It's the only motivation I need to keep writing more.

Love y'all 💖💖💖