91. I found you...
The mansion slept under a moonless sky.
Not even the street-lamps dared to spill light onto the Brooks estate tonight.
A cold gust swept through the hallways—unnatural, sharp, biting.
It carried no wind… only malice.
Inside his room, Maximilian sat at his desk, eyes on the documents but mind elsewhere—his mother, that woman, the seal, the unanswered questions. Stress suffocated him like a thick fog—
Then a scream tore the silence apart.
Aunt Liana.
A scream of pure terror.
Max shot up so violently that his chair toppled behind him.
But before he reached the door—
A second scream.
Aiden.
And then—
Chloe's voice—shaking, cracked, broken with horror.
"NO—NO—NO—!! SOMEONE HELP—!!"
Max's blood froze.
He sprinted out of his room, down the grand spiral stairs—
And stopped.
Because the entire hallway…
was wrong.
The lights flickered violently, and the temperature dropped so low frost began creeping across the marble floor.
A hissing growl slithered through the air.
Not animal.
Not human.
Something ancient.
Something that enjoyed fear.
Max felt it before he saw it—
a murderous aura so suffocating it made his lungs seize.
Aunt Liana was on the floor of her chamber doorway, shaking uncontrollably, eyes wide like she had seen the end of the world.
Uncle Adrian held her, but even he looked pale as death.
"W-what… is that… thing…" Adrian whispered.
Across the hallway, Aiden stumbled out of his room, drenched in cold sweat, lips trembling.
He was the fearless one. The rational one.
But tonight his pupils were blown wide with raw terror.
"M-Max… it stood right beside my bed…" Aiden gasped.
"I swear—its face was inches from mine—those eyes—those eyes—!"
Chloe was crouched against the wall, hugging her knees, sobbing silently.
She wasn't screaming anymore—
She couldn't.
The fear stole her voice.
Her whole body shook, and her eyes stared blankly ahead.
"Max… it whispered my name…" she choked out.
"It whispered my name in my ear… like it already owned me…"
Then—
All lights went out.
Darkness swallowed everything.
A deep, echoing thud… thud… thud…
Footsteps.
Slow.
Deliberate.
The oppressive aura thickened until even breathing hurt.
It felt like the walls, the air, the shadows themselves were alive.
Then the entity appeared.
Not the last one.
Not the weaker one.
This one was—
feral. monstrous. gleefully violent.
A tall shadow, distorted, limbs too long, head tilted in a way no human neck could twist.
Its aura reeked of bloodlust—
it didn't want to kill them.
It wanted to play with them first.
Red-black energy rippled off its form, sizzling like burning tar.
Its mouth—if it could be called that—stretched into a shape that looked like a grin carved by a mad god.
Max's heart slammed against his ribs—
not from fear…
but from fury.
How dare this filth step into his home…
touch his people…
and smile.
The shadow's voice rattled the mansion's walls, dripping with mockery:
"Your family smells delicious…
Shall I take one first?"
Chloe let out a strangled sob.
Aiden stepped protectively in front of her—even though his knees were shaking.
"Back off," Max growled, stepping forward.
The entity turned toward him… slowly…
like a predator acknowledging a challenger.
Then it leaned close—too close—staring straight into Max's eyes with malicious delight.
"You…
your scent is familiar…"
Max stiffened.
It remembers the seal night.
It remembers HER.
The entity laughed—a sound that made every family member clutch their ears in pain.
Max's rage ignited.
This monster wasn't killing them…
only terrifying them—
because it knew it could.
It wanted psychological destruction.
It wanted their minds to break.
And for the first time, buried beneath Max's fury…
was a flicker of fear.
Because this aura—
this killing intent—
this monstrous presence…
was far darker, far stronger
than the entity that woman sealed.
If the previous one was a demon—
This one was the demon's lord.
The true nightmare behind all of this.
And it came tonight for a reason.
As the entity moved, the walls cracked under the raw pressure of its aura.
The chandelier shook violently.
The shadow stretched its claws toward Aiden—
Aiden gasped, frozen.
"NO!" Chloe screamed.
Before the claw could touch him—
Max lunged.
The entity stopped—its grin widening—
as if amused.
Like it was waiting for Max.
Like it was here…
because of Max.
Then—
The entire mansion trembled.
Lights exploded.
A final chilling whisper slithered through every room:
"Tell her…
I found you."
And just like that—
the shadow vanished.
Leaving only silence.
And fear so deep it carved itself into their bones forever.
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