Ch 2
Adrian's flashlight flickered across the hallway. Lucien stood in the shadows, tall and still, his expression unreadable.
Adrian
(nervous) Who... Who are you?
Lucien tilted his head, eyes faintly luminous.
Lucien
Someone who doesn't welcome visitors.
Adrian's throat tightened. His instincts screamed to run-but his feet stayed rooted. Something about the way the man's voice echoed through the hollow house made it impossible to turn away.
A door slammed upstairs. The sound was violent, unnatural. Adrian spun around, heart pounding. When he looked back, Lucien was gone.
Adrian returned to his dorm, but he couldn't sleep. His mind replayed the encounter. The man hadn't been normal-his clothes, his presence, those eyes. And yet, Adrian didn't feel like he'd imagined it.
By morning, he was already planning to go back.
The house was colder this time, as if it remembered him. Adrian's breath fogged in the air. He climbed the staircase slowly, listening.
Adrian
(quietly) I know you are here...
A whisper ran down the hall-his name. Not spoken, but breathed.
Then, at the end of the corridor, Lucien appeared again. No sound of footsteps, just there. Watching.
Lucien
(stern) You're reckless. Do you want this house to claim you?
Adrian swallowed, gripping his flashlight tighter.
Adrian
I just... I need to know the truth.
For the first time, Lucien's expression faltered. His eyes softened-not with warmth, but with something closer to grief.
Lucien
Truth doesn't set you free here. It chains you.
Before Adrian could respond, the floorboards beneath him groaned. A dark strain spread across the wood-blood, fresh and glistening, dripping upward as though defying gravity.
Adrian stumbled back, horrified. But Lucien didn't move. He simply stared at the spreading darkness with quiet resignation.
Lucien
(low, almost to himself) It begins again.
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