Horrific Shorts: Zombie Edition
Chapter 947 - 947: Story 947: The Hollow Sanctuary

The gate groaned open, its iron frame warped with age and something far darker. A cold wind slithered out, carrying whispers that didn't belong to the living. Draven stepped forward, shotgun raised, as the others followed, the mansion before them looming under the sickly glow of a broken moon.

"This place ain't right," Elias muttered, flicking open his lighter. The tiny flame twisted, dancing unnaturally. "It breathes."

Mira clutched the Cursed Book, its pages shifting on their own, ink bleeding like fresh wounds. "It's waiting for us."

Zara scanned the surroundings. "Or waiting for something else."

The moment they crossed the threshold, the world tilted. Shadows crawled up the walls, furniture moved without sound, and the air smelled of damp earth and rot. A massive staircase coiled upward, lined with portraits whose eyes followed them.

Draven led the way, boots heavy against the decayed floorboards. "If the Forsaken Girl is here, we need to move fast."

Then came the scratching.

Faint at first—like nails against wood. Then louder. Closer.

Something was skittering inside the walls.

A door burst open, and a thin, twisted figure crawled out, its limbs too long, its face wrapped in rotting cloth. It lurched toward them, moving like a spider, its head snapping from side to side.

Mira screamed as more emerged from the shadows—pale things, their bodies stitched together, their mouths sewn shut.

Zara was the first to react, her blade flashing. She severed a limb, but the creature didn't bleed—instead, it laughed, a choked, gurgling sound, as its severed arm crawled toward her on its own.

Elias fired his revolver. The shot rang out, but the bullet passed through as if the creature was half here, half somewhere else.

"They're phantoms!" Mira shouted. "Not fully in this world!"

Draven snarled. "Then we pull them in." He grabbed the Cursed Book, flipping through its pages, letting the ancient script burn into his hands. The text writhed, and suddenly, the creatures froze—as if something was watching them now.

Then, a voice whispered from the darkness.

"Leave this place… or join the hollow."

The walls shuddered. The mansion was alive.

The floor split open, revealing a chasm of writhing bodies and reaching hands. From within, something massive began to rise—a figure in tattered robes, its face hidden beneath a mask of bone, its presence pulling the warmth from the room.

Elias stepped back, breath visible in the cold. "We've seen him before…"

Mira's heart pounded. The Whispering One.

And he had been waiting for them.