The Shadow Estate

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It was a dark, starless night when Emily first noticed the light flickering in the window of the abandoned house on the edge of town. The house, known by locals as “The Shadow Estate,” had been the subject of local legends for years. People said that anyone who crossed its threshold vanished without a trace. Children avoided the area, and adults pretended the place didn’t exist. But Emily couldn’t take her eyes off the light shimmering in one of the upper windows. It was too unusual, too… inviting.

 

She had always been the type to question the accepted norms. A young journalist with a penchant for solving mysteries and seeking the truth where others saw only rumors. That evening, despite her racing heart and the goosebumps on her arms, she decided to investigate.

Armed with a flashlight and a camera, Emily approached the gate surrounded by a rusty fence. Each of her steps seemed to echo, even though the ground beneath her feet was covered in a layer of withered leaves. The front door of the house, despite its age, creaked open easily, as if welcoming her inside.

Inside, the air was damp and oppressive, and the walls were covered in peeling wallpaper. Emily turned on her flashlight, which cast a beam of light onto dusty floors and warped furniture. It seemed as though time had stopped in this place. On one of the tables, she noticed old newspapers dated 1978, with headlines about the town’s missing residents. Something else, however, caught her attention more—a black notebook lying in the center of the table, as if intentionally placed there.

She opened it carefully. On the first page was a hand-drawn symbol—a circle surrounded by strange markings resembling ancient runes. Below it was a single sentence: “Every choice carries consequences.”

Emily felt a chill run through her, but something inside urged her to read further. The next pages contained entries, seemingly a diary of someone who had lived there years ago. There were stories of voices coming from empty rooms, shadows moving at night, and how “the house lives.”

Immersed in the reading, Emily didn’t notice the light in the room beginning to dim. A loud bang from the upper floor snapped her out of her trance. She tightened her grip on the flashlight and slowly made her way toward the stairs. Each step creaked under her feet, and the echo of the sound seemed to bounce off the walls, creating an almost melodic harmony of dread.

Upstairs, there was a bedroom, and its door was slightly ajar. Emily took a deep breath and pushed it open. The room looked like a scene from a bygone era: a canopy bed, curtains heavy with dust, and a mirror reflecting the beam of her flashlight. But it wasn’t the decor that held her attention. In the middle of the room lay a body.

It was the body of a woman, but she looked as though she had been asleep for centuries. Her skin was as pale as chalk, and dried flowers were scattered around her. Emily took a step forward when the mirror in front of her began to flicker. Her reflection started to change—it disappeared, and in its place was the face of a man with cold, black eyes.

“You shouldn’t be here,” said a voice, echoing off the walls. Emily stepped back, but the door behind her slammed shut with a bang. The mirror shattered, and from the cracks seeped a black liquid that quickly spread across the floor.

Emily screamed, lunged for the door, and began tugging at the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. The liquid reached her shoes, and when she looked down, she saw hundreds of tiny hands moving within it, as if trying to escape.

Everything suddenly went silent. The door burst open with a crash, and Emily stumbled into the hallway. She ran blindly, not looking back, until she found herself outside. Only on the street did she dare to glance back, but the house was gone.

A few days later, Emily returned to town. She searched the archives and discovered that “The Shadow Estate” had burned down in a fire in 1978—on the exact day its residents disappeared. Among the list of victims, she found her own name.

It was then she understood that she had always been part of the story.

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