"Hear Screams and Hide" || A Novella

Prologue

The Last Harvest Moon

The night in Eldridge Hollow was suffocatingly still. The town's streets, normally filled with life, lay empty, bathed only in the eerie glow of the full harvest moon.

Thin wisps of fog curled along the ground, weaving through the deserted alleys and casting ghostly shadows on the weathered buildings.

In a darkened house at the edge of town, Sara Greens sat curled in her chair, clutching her arms close, a sense of dread tightening around her chest.

Her home was sealed tight, every door locked, every window boarded, and still, the silence gnawed at her, filling her with a hollow unease that felt worse than fear.

Tonight was the night she dreaded most.

She had heard the stories, but they never seemed real — not until two years ago, when her husband had been taken.

A noise — piercing and raw — ripped through the air, shattering the stillness.

Sara’s heart lurched as the scream bounced off the walls, muffled but inescapable. It clawed at her ears, a sound both human and inhuman, laced with agony that seemed to slice through her.

She jammed her hands against her ears, but the wails seeped in, wrapping around her like ghostly fingers.

The scream grew louder, almost closer, and a cold, invisible presence pressed against her. It was as though the walls themselves were holding their breath, watching, waiting.

In the corner of her eye, she caught a flicker of movement by the window — a shadow shifting, growing, spilling like smoke under her door.

It slithered across the floor, reaching for her with long, curling tendrils. She froze, her mind a blur of terror, unable to move as the shadow stretched closer, its edges rippling like something alive, something hungry.

“Sara…” a voice whispered from nowhere and everywhere at once. It was soft, almost familiar, but twisted, dripping with malice.

Summoning the last of her strength, she staggered up and backed away, pressing herself into the corner.

But the shadow followed, tightening around her, until she felt as though she were sinking into a pool of darkness.

The scream rose again, louder, so loud it filled her, and she gasped for breath, her vision fading.

Then, just as quickly as it had come, the shadow recoiled, evaporating into the floor, leaving only silence in its wake.

The scream faded.

The fog outside stilled.

Sara was gone, with only scratches of fingernails dragged across the wooden floor, clawing for escape.
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[Author's Note:

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