The lights went out.
Not one by one.
Not gradually.
Every light inside the Roberts house died at the exact same moment.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Amanda screamed.
Tom began crying.
For a second, no one moved.
No one breathed.
The only sound in the house was the crackling fireplace and the icy wind slipping through the boarded windows.
"Dad?" Samantha whispered.
William tightened his grip on the fireplace poker.
"Everyone stay where you are."
His voice sounded different.
Not calm.
Not confident.
Afraid.
Jean stared at the staircase.
She knew what she had seen.
A little girl.
Standing at the top of the stairs.
Watching them.
The image burned inside her mind.
Pale skin.
Long dark hair.
And eyes filled with a sadness so deep it had terrified her more than anything else.
The fireplace flickered.
For just a second, the room glowed orange.
The staircase was empty.
The girl had disappeared.
Tom buried his face in Amanda's shoulder.
"I want to go home."
Amanda hugged him tighter.
"We are home, sweetheart."
"No," he whispered. "I want to go to our real home."
Nobody answered.
Because, deep down, everyone was thinking the same thing.
William cleared his throat.
"Jean."
She looked at him.
"Find the flashlights."
Jean nodded.
She hurried into the kitchen.
The darkness seemed thicker away from the fireplace.
Every shadow felt alive.
She reached the drawer where Amanda had placed the emergency flashlight.
Empty.
Her heart skipped.
No.
No, she remembered putting it there.
She opened another drawer.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
"Jean?" William called from the living room.
"I can't find them."
The silence that followed made her stomach twist.
Then she heard breathing.
Very close.
Not her own.
She froze.
The kitchen was completely dark.
The only light came from the distant fireplace in the living room.
The breathing came again.
Slow.
Heavy.
Right behind her.
Jean's body refused to move.
Every instinct screamed at her to run.
To scream.
To do something.
But fear had rooted her to the floor.
The breathing grew closer.
Closer.
Until she could feel cold air touching the back of her neck.
"Jean?"
It was Samantha's voice.
Jean spun around.
Samantha stood in the doorway holding a candle.
The kitchen was empty.
Jean nearly collapsed.
"God, Sam!"
Samantha frowned.
"What's wrong?"
Jean looked around again.
Nothing.
No one.
"I... I thought someone was behind me."
Samantha's face changed.
"You too?"
Jean stared at her.
"What?"
Samantha stepped into the kitchen and lowered her voice.
"When the lights went out, I felt someone touch my hand."
The sisters looked at each other.
Neither of them smiled.
Neither of them laughed.
Because both knew the other wasn't joking.
A crash echoed from upstairs.
Amanda screamed.
William shouted.
The girls ran back to the living room.
Tom was crying uncontrollably.
"What happened?" Samantha asked.
William's face had turned white.
"It came from upstairs."
Another crash.
This one louder.
Like furniture being thrown.
Amanda looked at William.
"Someone's in the house."
William shook his head.
"No."
"But—"
"No one could have gotten in."
The crashing continued.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Each impact shook the ceiling.
Tom covered his ears.
"Make it stop!"
William looked at the staircase.
Then at his family.
He knew what he had to do.
"I'm going upstairs."
Amanda grabbed his arm.
"No."
"I have to."
"What if someone's there?"
William forced a smile.
"Then they'll wish they weren't."
But nobody believed him.
He picked up the fireplace poker and slowly approached the staircase.
The sounds stopped.
Immediately.
The house became silent again.
The silence was worse.
William placed one foot on the first step.
The wood creaked.
Second step.
Third.
The family watched from below.
Jean's heart pounded.
She remembered the girl.
She remembered the voice in the basement.
She remembered the hand touching her neck.
William reached the second floor.
"Hello?" he called.
No answer.
He disappeared into the hallway.
For several seconds, there was nothing.
Then they heard footsteps.
Heavy.
Running.
Amanda gasped.
"William!"
No answer.
The footsteps grew louder.
Closer.
Something was running upstairs.
Fast.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
Tom screamed.
The footsteps stopped.
Then William's voice echoed through the house.
"There's nobody here!"
Amanda let out a breath.
But Jean didn't.
Because she had heard something else.
Another voice.
A child's voice.
Laughing.
William reappeared at the top of the stairs.
His face was pale.
"There isn't anyone."
"But the noise—" Amanda began.
"I know."
He swallowed.
"I checked every room."
The family remained frozen.
No one knew what to say.
Then Samantha pointed.
Slowly.
Silently.
Toward the staircase.
"Dad."
William turned.
"What?"
She couldn't speak.
She simply pointed.
Everyone looked.
At first, Jean didn't understand.
Then she saw it.
On the wooden staircase.
A footprint.
Small.
Wet.
As if someone with bare feet had just stepped out of the snow.
Another footprint appeared.
No one was standing there.
No one.
But another footprint appeared.
Then another.
And another.
The invisible footsteps climbed the stairs.
One by one.
The entire family watched in horror.
The footprints reached the top.
Stopped.
The hallway light suddenly flickered back on.
Just once.
And in that single flash of light, they all saw her.
A little girl.
Standing behind William.
Her skin was gray.
Her hair hung over her face.
And her eyes—
Her eyes were completely black.
The light went out again.
William screamed.
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