Emily... come here, sweetheart

In the middle of the night, Emily awoke to the sound of her mother calling her name from the kitchen.

"Emily... come here, sweetheart," the voice whispered, soft and comforting.

Half-asleep, she stumbled out of bed and shuffled down the hallway. As she passed the kitchen doorway, she froze. There, standing in the dim light, was her mother... but she was smiling, her eyes wide and empty.

"Don't go in there," her mother's voice called again from the other side of the house. "I heard it too."

The smile on the woman in the kitchen grew wider.