The kitchen was a tomb, the air thick with the stench of the black ooze that had followed them downstairs. It pooled in the corners, defying gravity, creeping up the walls like veins. Gigi stood over Vin, who was curled into a ball on the floor, muttering about voices. Sheree was hyperventilating, clutching a rosary she'd found in a drawer, though she hadn't been to church in years. Rickus was at the window, peering through a crack in the curtains, his face ashen."They're out there," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Both of them."Gigi joined him, her heart sinking. In the moonlight, Rene and Nicole stood on the back lawn, side by side, their movements synchronized. They weren't smashing windows or screaming—they were digging. Their hands clawed at the earth, tearing up clumps of grass and dirt with unnatural speed. Their faces were blank, their eyes glowing faintly, like embers in the dark."What are they doing?" Sheree asked, her voice trembling.Gigi didn't answer. She couldn't. The sight of the girls, moving like puppets, sent a chill down her spine. The house's hum was quieter now, but it was still there, a constant pressure in her skull. She glanced at Vin, who was rocking back and forth, clutching his papers. One of them had fallen to the floor—a crude drawing of the house, with a dark, spiraling shape at its center."We need to know what they're digging for," Gigi said, forcing her voice to stay steady. "If it's part of this… thing's plan, we need to stop it."Rickus turned, his eyes wild. "Stop it? You saw what happened upstairs. This isn't something we can fight. It's in the walls, Gigi. It's in us.""Then what?" she snapped. "We give up? Let them win?"Rickus didn't answer. He just looked back at the window, his shoulders slumping.Sheree's voice was small. "What if we leave? Just… get in the car and go."Gigi shook her head. "You think it'll let us? Cedric tried to run. He's probably dead by now." She didn't know if that was true, but the words felt right, heavy with the house's malice.Vin stirred, his voice a rasp. "It wants an offering. That's what they said. Blood for the house. Blood for the heart."Gigi knelt beside him, her stomach twisting. "Who's 'they,' Vin? What are you talking about?"He pointed at the papers, his hand shaking. "The voices. They showed me. The house was built on something old. Something that needs to be fed."Gigi picked up the drawing. The spiraling shape wasn't abstract—it was a pit, a maw, deep beneath the house. Her mind flashed to the girls digging outside. Were they trying to reach it?That night, they made a plan, desperate and half-formed. They'd sneak out, see what the girls were doing, and destroy whatever they were unearthing. Rickus protested, but Gigi's resolve was iron. "If we don't act, we're dead anyway," she said.Under the cover of darkness, Gigi and Rickus crept outside, leaving Sheree with Vin. The air was thick, oppressive, the hum now a low growl. The girls were still digging, their hands bloody, their faces serene. The hole was deep now, at least six feet, and at its bottom, something glinted—a stone slab, carved with the same symbols Vin had drawn.Gigi's breath caught. "That's it," she whispered. "That's what they want."Before Rickus could respond, Nicole's head snapped toward them. Her smile was wide, too wide, splitting her face like a wound. "You came," she said, her voice layered with something ancient. "The house is pleased."Rickus grabbed Gigi's arm, pulling her back, but the ground trembled beneath them. The slab in the pit glowed, pulsing with the same rhythm as the hum. Rene stepped forward, her hands dripping with dirt and blood. "Give us the boy," she said. "Vin. His blood will open the heart."Gigi's heart stopped. They knew about Vin. They knew everything.They ran back to the house, the girls' laughter chasing them, a sound that wasn't human. Inside, Sheree was screaming. Vin was gone, the back door wide open. His papers were scattered across the floor, each one marked with the same spiraling pit.
