Knock
The sound jolted her, shattering the silence that had pressed so heavily on her moments before. Heart racing, she went to answer, her footsteps shaky, still haunted by the figure's image in the mirror.
She opened the door, and standing there was a man she didn't recognize.
But he felt familiar.
He had dark eyes that seemed to know too much, like they could read her thoughts before she even spoke them. His presence was oddly comforting, warm even, yet there was an unsettling familiarity to it that she couldn't place. The way he held himself, the way he stood—it reminded her of something she couldn't name, a memory half-formed, lingering just out of reach.
"Hello," he said, his voice smooth and deep, sending a shiver down her spine. It was a voice that felt like it belonged to this house, one that seeped into the walls and lingered in the air, like the shadows she could never quite shake. "I thought I might introduce myself. I live nearby and I saw that you had moved in."
She nodded, swallowing hard, her thoughts scattered. "Oh, um, hi. I'm—well, I just moved in. To this house."
He smiled, a hint of something dark lurking behind it, though his expression was friendly enough. "Quite the place, isn't it?" He glanced around the hall, his gaze lingering on the edges of the rooms, as if seeing them from a different perspective. "Holds its secrets close, doesn't it?"
She forced a smile, clutching the door handle. "Yeah. You could say that."
The man tilted his head slightly, his eyes softening. "I hope you're finding it... welcoming." He said the word carefully, almost as if it held a double meaning. "Sometimes houses like this—older ones—have a way of testing the people they let inside."
Something cold prickled up her arms, but she nodded, forcing herself to appear unfazed. "It's definitely been... unique," she replied, her voice wavering slightly. There was something about him that was both soothing and utterly terrifying. She couldn't shake the feeling that he already knew more than she was telling him.
"Well," he said, his gaze flickering to the mirror behind her, just visible from where he stood on the doorstep. "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to reach out. It's always good to have someone nearby who understands... special houses."
A small, amused smile curled at his lips. She couldn't shake the feeling that he was speaking in riddles, hinting at things he shouldn't know.
As she shut the door, a new wave of dread washed over her. Why did he seem so familiar, like something she had felt before but never seen? And his voice—there was a depth to it, a darkness, like the voice that had whispered in her ear moments before.
Back in her room, the mirror's surface was still dark and smooth, no trace of the towering figure. But as she stared at her reflection, she couldn't help but wonder if that man outside was somehow connected. He seemed to carry the same darkness, the same presence, like he belonged to the shadows of this house.
She shivered, a whisper of the warning still echoing in her ears. Stay.
She closed the door, a curious warmth lingering in her chest. There was something about the man—his voice, his eyes—that had felt deeply comforting, yet, as she thought about it, that comfort felt... wrong, unsettling even. It was as though he was wrapping her in a calm she hadn't asked for, something that crept beneath her skin and lingered in her mind.
As she walked back through the hall, she tried to shake the strange feeling off, but it clung to her. It was odd; the house had made her feel so tense and cautious, and yet here was this man—a stranger—and all she felt from him was an overwhelming sense of safety. Too much safety, maybe. She couldn't quite explain it, but it felt like slipping into a warm pool only to find yourself sinking, unable to rise back to the surface.
She let out a soft, uneasy laugh, realizing that she hadn't even gotten his name. Something about him seemed to draw her in, almost too easily, and that strange pull left a weight in her chest that felt half comfort, half warning. The more she thought about him, the stronger the unsettling warmth became, an almost magnetic pull that made her want to see him again. It was a feeling both tempting and suffocating, like a shadow she couldn't escape.
As she prepared for bed, her gaze fell to the mirror in her room, and she paused, remembering his words about the house. His presence seemed to linger there, hanging over her like a fog she couldn't shake. She felt that odd warmth pulse within her, but now it seemed to blend with the dark feeling she'd had all along, a warning she couldn't quite ignore.
For a moment, she caught her own reflection staring back with an expression she couldn't recognize, a flicker of unease in her own eyes. She shook her head, but the feeling wouldn't leave her.
YOU ARE READING
Veil of Shadows
Paranormal--The world fell into darkness as she called to it, her voice swallowed by shadows before her words even reached her lips. She fell, hands dragging her downward, as if they would finally end the desire, she felt for the creature that had tormented h...
