Chapter 1 - The First Fracture
“Oh my god! There’s someone down there!” Mark shouted, his voice cracking with a sudden, suffocating terror as he scrambled backward across the splintered pine planks.
“What on earth are you doing to the parlor floor, Mark?” Eleanor demanded, her heels clicking sharply against the foyer threshold before she froze, the silver teapot rattling violently against the rim of her matching serving tray.
“Quiet, Eleanor, just look!” Mark breathed, his eyes wide and bloodshot as he pointed a trembling finger toward the gaping black void where the floorboard had just been ripped away.
“Stop this absolute nonsense right now, we have guests arriving in twenty minutes for the quarterly estate review,” Eleanor snapped, her polished professional composure tightening like a wire about to snap as she set the heavy tray down on a side table.
“A living human hand just reached out of the dirt beneath our feet, El, are you completely blind to what is happening in this house?” Mark retorted, his voice rising sharply as he climbed back onto his knees and stared into the pitch-black abyss.
“Daddy, please make it stop, it smells like cold rain and old paper down there,” little Lily whimpered from the corner of the rug, her blue ruffled blouse stained with dust and her cheeks still wet with fresh tears.
“Lily, go to your mother upstairs this instant, do you hear me?” Mark ordered firmly, though his gaze never left the terrifying opening in the dark wooden floor.
“No, Mark, you are not going to drag our daughter into your delusional episodes again, we are selling this property tomorrow,” Eleanor hissed, stepping closer and grabbing the lapel of her grey business suit as her face flushed with defensive anger.
“Look closely at the dirt, Eleanor, does that look like a hallucination to you?” Mark whispered hoarsely, pointing down into the absolute nothingness of the sub-floor.
May you like
A faint, rhythmic scraping sound began to echo from the depths, followed by the unmistakable sound of a soft, ragged breath exhaling into the quiet parlor.
---
