Chapter 5: The Hollow One

The knocking continued.

Tap… tap… tap.

Slow. Rhythmic. As if whatever was on the other side knew they were listening.

Evelyn's breath came shallow, her fingers gripping the edge of the table. Nathaniel was frozen beside her, every muscle in his body taut. Miriam stood in front of them, her frail body trembling, but her voice was sharp as a blade.

"Don't move. Don't speak. And do not look outside."

The urgency in her tone sent a chill through Evelyn's bones. The knocking didn't stop. If anything, it became more insistent.

Tap… tap… tap…

Then the doorknob rattled.

Evelyn sucked in a breath.

Something wanted in.

Miriam reached for a small bowl of ash on a nearby shelf and began muttering under her breath, fingers trembling as she sprinkled the dust along the threshold of the door. Her voice took on a rhythmic cadence, words in a language Evelyn didn't recognize. The knocking stopped only for something worse to replace it.

A whisper.

Not a normal whisper.

It was Lillian's voice.

"Evelyn."

Evelyn's breath hitched. It was so clear, so real like Lillian was standing right there on the other side of the door.

"Evelyn, please. Let me in."

Nathaniel shot her a warning look. He had heard it too.

Miriam's chanting grew louder. Her hands shook as she grabbed a knife from the table and carved something into the wooden floor. A symbol. Jagged, interlocking lines that made Evelyn's head ache just looking at them.

The whispering turned frantic. "Evelyn, why won't you help me?"

A lump formed in Evelyn's throat. It sounded just like her.

She felt herself moving before she could stop, her body compelled by instinct, by hope by the possibility that Lillian was really there.

Nathaniel grabbed her arm, his grip tight. "It's not her."

"I—" Evelyn's voice faltered.

The whispers twisted.

They grew layered. Multiple voices speaking at once, all saying the same thing.

"Evelyn. Evelyn. Evelyn. Evelyn."

The lights flickered.

The shadows along the walls stretched, unnatural and wrong. The air felt heavier, pressing against them like a physical force.

Then—the door creaked open just an inch.

No one had touched it.

A sliver of darkness yawned in the gap.

Miriam lunged forward, slamming it shut so hard the entire house seemed to shake. She pressed her back against it, her breath ragged.

"We don't say its name." Her voice was sharp, desperate. "We don't listen to it. And we sure as hell don't invite it in."

Evelyn's heart pounded against her ribs. She had never seen anyone this terrified before.

Miriam turned to them, her face ashen. "You need to understand. The Hollow One doesn't just take people. It takes their existence. Their past, their presence, their future. When it feeds, it's like they were never here at all."

Evelyn's mouth was dry. "Then why do I still remember Lillian?"

Miriam hesitated.

Then she whispered, "Because it wants you to."

The Truth Buried Beneath the Town

Evelyn's hands shook as she clutched Lillian's journal, the weight of Miriam's words pressing down on her.

Nathaniel spoke first, his voice tight. "How do we stop it?"

Miriam's gaze flickered to the journal. "She found something, didn't she?"

Evelyn nodded slowly. "I think so." She flipped through the pages, stopping at an entry near the end one she hadn't paid attention to before.

The town is lying. They know. They've always known.

Evelyn's stomach churned. "She thought the town was covering it up."

Miriam let out a bitter laugh. "Of course they were. Because they made a deal with it."

Silence.

Evelyn's blood ran cold. "A deal?"

Miriam nodded grimly. "A long time ago, when this town was still new, people started vanishing. The first settlers wrote about shadows moving between the trees, about voices calling them by name in the night. People would disappear sometimes entire families. They were forgotten within days. So the town bargained with it."

Nathaniel's jaw tightened. "What kind of bargain?"

Miriam's expression darkened. "A sacrifice. Every few years, someone is chosen. If they offer up one life, the Hollow One leaves the rest of the town untouched."

Evelyn's breath caught.

Her hands trembled as she looked down at the journal.

Lillian knew.

Nathaniel's voice was barely above a whisper. "And the town let her disappear."

Miriam's silence was answer enough.

A Choice in the Dark

The weight of it all pressed down on Evelyn's chest. The town had let this happen. Over and over. And now, if she didn't stop it, it would happen again.

Nathaniel ran a hand over his face. "So how do we break the cycle?"

Miriam hesitated. "No one knows. Everyone who has ever tried…" She swallowed. "They were erased."

Evelyn clenched her fists. "Then we figure it out. We find out what Lillian knew. We end this."

A flicker of something passed through Miriam's eyes hope, maybe. Or fear.

Then

A sound from outside.

Not a knock this time.

But the slow, scraping of something against the walls of the house.

Nathaniel grabbed Evelyn's wrist, pulling her back.

Miriam's breath hitched.

"The wards won't hold much longer," she whispered. "It knows you're here."

The lights flickered again.

The whispering returned, curling around the house like smoke.

"Evelyn."

The voice was closer now.

Too close.

Then

The window shattered.

A hand if it could be called that reached inside.

Evelyn barely had time to scream before everything went dark.