Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Presence in the Dark
The sound of shattering glass echoed through the manor, sharp and deliberate.
Elena's breath hitched as Leon's entire posture shifted—his stillness was unnerving, too controlled, too precise.
His eyes flickered toward the hallway, toward the source of the noise.
"We're not alone," he murmured.
A cold shiver ran down Elena's spine.
The manor had always felt eerie, its walls heavy with secrets. But this was different. This was real.
Leon moved first, swift and silent, stepping away from the book and toward the door.
Elena hesitated before following. "What was that?" she whispered.
Leon didn't answer.
Instead, he stopped just before reaching the doorway. His hand pressed lightly against the wooden frame, his head tilting slightly—listening.
Elena barely dared to breathe.
Then, she heard it.
A slow, deliberate creak.
Footsteps.
Someone was inside the house.
The Locked Room
Leon stepped forward before Elena could react.
His movements were effortless, silent, his body a shadow slipping through the dimly lit hall.
Elena hurried behind him, her pulse hammering in her throat. "Leon—"
He shot her a look that immediately silenced her.
She swallowed hard.
They turned a corner, following the sound toward one of the grand sitting rooms. The air smelled faintly of dust and old wood, but underneath it, there was something else.
Something metallic.
Something wrong.
The window at the far end of the room was broken, glass shards glittering against the moonlight. Cold night air seeped through the jagged opening.
Leon's eyes swept the room, sharp and assessing.
Nothing moved.
Yet Elena couldn't shake the feeling that whoever had been here… was still here.
Then—
Click.
Elena's heart nearly stopped.
The door behind them—the one they had just come through— swung shut with a slow, deliberate creak.
Leon turned sharply, his eyes flashing.
But before either of them could react, the lock twisted with an eerie finality.
They were trapped.
And someone—or something—was on the other side.