The creature's fingers stretched closer to Rohan's face.
Long.
Thin.
Too many joints bending in the wrong directions.
Rohan tried to pull back, but his father's grip on his wrist was like iron.
"Dad—please!" he shouted.
For a moment, his father's eyes flickered again.
A tiny spark of fear appeared there.
"Run…" he whispered weakly.
But the creature moved faster.
Its long arm snapped forward.
Rohan barely ducked in time.
The fingers scraped across the wall behind him with a horrible scratching sound.
Wood splintered.
Paint peeled away in long strips.
Downstairs, his grandmother's chanting grew louder.
The strange words filled the house.
The creature suddenly froze.
Its head jerked toward the staircase.
Listening.
The smile slowly faded from its face.
Then it hissed.
A dry, hollow sound like wind blowing through bones.
"Stop… her…" the deep voice whispered through Rohan's father.
The creature turned its empty eye sockets toward Rohan again.
And this time it moved faster.
It lunged.
Rohan twisted hard and finally broke free from his father's grip.
He stumbled backward toward the stairs.
Behind him, his father collapsed to his knees.
Like his strength had suddenly vanished.
"Dad!" Rohan cried.
But the creature was already crawling forward.
Its long limbs dragged across the floor, pulling its body in jerky, spider-like movements.
Too fast.
Much too fast.
Rohan turned and ran down the stairs.
Each step thundered beneath his feet.
"Grandma!" he shouted.
She was standing in the middle of the kitchen now.
Eyes closed.
Still chanting.
Her voice was stronger than before.
The air around her seemed to vibrate with the strange words.
"What are you doing?" Rohan's mother cried.
But his grandmother didn't stop.
Upstairs, something slammed violently against the hallway wall.
Once.
Twice.
Then the creature appeared at the top of the stairs.
Its long arms gripping the railing.
Its body bent unnaturally as it squeezed into the narrow staircase.
Rohan's mother screamed.
The creature began crawling down.
Fast.
Each movement was jerky and wrong.
Its limbs twisted as if the bones inside didn't belong together.
The lights flickered weakly.
The temperature dropped even more.
Frost crept along the edges of the kitchen window.
"Don't look at it!" the grandmother shouted suddenly.
Her eyes snapped open.
"Rohan, behind me!"
Rohan rushed toward her.
The creature was halfway down the stairs now.
Its mouth stretched open wider and wider.
Inside was nothing but darkness.
No tongue.
No teeth.
Just endless black.
It spoke again.
But this time the voice sounded like many voices whispering together.
"…he opened the door…"
"…he came back…"
"…we waited…"
The creature's long fingers touched the bottom step.
The grandmother raised one shaking hand.
Her chanting grew louder.
Faster.
The creature stopped.
Its body shuddered violently.
For a moment, the entire house seemed to hold its breath.
Then the creature screamed.
A terrible sound that rattled every window in the house.
And the small wooden door upstairs slammed shut.