whispers in the wall

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*Chapter 9: The Lingering Shadows*

The silence in the house felt unnatural. For a few fleeting moments, it was as if the entire world had held its breath. Eliza and Sean stood in the center of the living room, their hearts still pounding in their chests, the last echo of the ritual fading into the air. The house was still—almost too still.

Eliza's skin prickled as she glanced nervously around. The oppressive weight of the entity had lifted, but the feeling of being *watched*—of being hunted—hadn't disappeared. It lingered like a foul smell, clinging to the air.

"Is it really over?" Sean's voice trembled slightly, as if he wasn't quite ready to believe it. He looked around, his gaze darting from corner to corner, as though expecting something to leap from the shadows at any moment.

"I don't know," Eliza answered quietly, shaking her head. She wanted to believe that the ritual had worked—that they were finally free—but a cold knot in her stomach told her otherwise. The house was silent, yes, but there was something wrong. Something was still there.

As they stood there, trying to make sense of everything that had happened, Eliza's eyes were drawn to the old piano in the corner of the room. For a split second, it looked… *different.* The keys gleamed under the weak light from the window, and for a moment, it seemed as if something was moving beneath them.

"Eliza…" Sean whispered urgently, his voice low, almost a hiss. He had noticed it too.

The piano's keys trembled, one by one, as if being played by invisible hands. A single note rang out—a low, haunting sound that filled the room.

"Eliza… look!" Sean's voice cracked as he pointed toward the doorway.

The door to the kitchen was wide open, its frame casting a long shadow that seemed to stretch toward them. The shadow in the doorway moved, flickering, like something was standing there. Something that hadn't been there before.

"No," Eliza whispered, her voice thin and brittle. "It can't be. We did everything right. We…"

But the shadows in the doorway grew more distinct. They shifted, taking form. Eliza's heart pounded as the darkness pulled itself together like a living thing, taking shape, twisting and contorting until it was unmistakably humanoid.

The figure in the doorway was tall, its body twisted and unnatural, its face a hollow, empty mask. Its eyes—if they could even be called eyes—were endless black voids, and its limbs stretched unnaturally long, far beyond any human proportions. The air grew colder as it stepped forward, its form flickering like a broken shadow.

"Eliza… I'm so sorry," Sean's voice cracked, barely above a whisper. "It never left."

The figure in the doorway seemed to grin, its mouth stretching impossibly wide, as if it was *laughing*. And then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

Vanished.

But the house had not returned to the quiet, empty stillness it had before. The air was heavier now, as though something had shifted just beneath the surface.

"Eliza…" Sean breathed out. "I thought it was over. I thought we trapped it."

The floorboards creaked under their feet, and then the whispers returned.

"Eliza… Sean…"

The voices were soft, distant, but unmistakable. They seemed to be coming from the walls. The floor. Everywhere.

"Eliza… you didn't finish it."

The voice was a low, guttural growl now, and it felt like it was coming from inside her skull. The walls seemed to be closing in on them. The house was alive again, and this time, it was angrier.

"I don't understand!" Eliza shouted, grabbing Sean's arm. "We *did* everything! We said the words! We sealed it!"

Sean turned to her, his eyes wide with realization. "No. We only bound it to the house. The house itself is part of it. We didn't destroy it. We didn't finish the ritual."

Eliza stared at him, horrified. "What do you mean? What else is there?"

Sean's face grew pale, and his voice was barely audible. "The house itself was built to hold it. *The entity is the house.* The house is the prison. We didn't destroy the prison; we only closed the doors."

The whispers grew louder, their words now indistinguishable, mingling together in a chaotic, maddening noise.

"Get out of the house, Eliza," Sean said, his voice trembling. "It's too late. It's everywhere. We have to leave. We have to burn it."

Eliza's mind raced. Burn it? Could they really burn the house? Could they destroy everything that had become so entangled with this dark entity?

But the thought of leaving without finishing the ritual—of leaving it half-done—was unbearable. The very idea that the thing inside might still be alive, still able to reach out and *feed* on them, made her stomach twist in terror.

"Eliza… we can't stay," Sean urged, grabbing her arm. His grip was desperate, his eyes filled with fear. "We have to go. *Now.*"

Eliza swallowed, her mind spinning, but a single thought pierced through the chaos: the entity had wanted them to fail. It had never intended to stay trapped. It had only been biding its time, waiting for the perfect moment to *slip out*. The house itself had been a vessel for its hunger.

And now, the house was no longer a prison—it was a weapon. A weapon it would use to destroy them.

Suddenly, there was a shriek—a loud, piercing sound that echoed through the house, filling every room, every corner. It was the entity, screaming in rage as it realized they were trying to escape.

"Eliza… let's go." Sean pulled her toward the door, but as they reached the front hallway, the door slammed shut. The house groaned and shook as if it were coming alive around them. The walls began to crack, the floors buckling beneath their feet.

"Eliza, we have to finish it. Or it will *kill us all*," Sean yelled over the chaos, his voice barely audible above the screeching.

And then, with a deafening crash, the walls splintered open, and the entity burst forth—its limbs twisted, its eyes glowing black with hunger.

It was free.

And it was hunting.

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Please I need your motivation guys...

Love y'all 💖💖