The flashlight beam trembled in Sarah’s hand as she stood in the damp center of the basement. Beside her, Luna was no longer just staring; the cat’s back was arched into a jagged peak, a low, guttural growl vibrating through her small frame. It wasn’t mice. Mice didn’t cause the air to feel heavy like this, and mice certainly didn’t hide behind a brick wall that was vibrating with a faint pulse.
As the first brick crumbled away under the pressure of Mark’s crowbar, Sarah realized that the “settling noises” they’d heard weren’t the house growing old—they were the sounds of something hidden trying to breathe. The cat had been warning them since the day they arrived, sensing a presence that defied logic. Now, as a hollow draft of cold, scented air rushed out from the breach, the truth was finally coming to light, and it was far more disturbing than any ghost story they could have imagined…