Story 981: The Hollow Man’s Smile

The corridor stretched endlessly, warping as if space itself refused to stay still. The whispering voices coiled around them, seeping into their skulls. The manor was alive. And it was hungry.

Mira clutched the cursed book tighter, feeling its pages twitch beneath her fingers. Zara’s machete gleamed under the dim candlelight, and Elias checked his revolver, jaw clenched. The Forsaken Girl drifted ahead, her bare feet silent against the warped wooden floor.

Then, Draven screamed again.

It wasn’t just a scream—it was distorted, layered, as if something else howled within him.

Zara quickened her pace. “We need to move—now.”

The walls shuddered, and from the cracks, thin, blackened hands slithered out, their skeletal fingers reaching for them. Hungry. Trembling. Starving.

Elias fired. The gunshot ripped through the dark, but the hands didn’t bleed. They kept coming, twisting unnaturally as they lunged.

“Move!” Mira shouted.