They fell—
not through air this time,
but through walls.
Wood splintered.
Bricks shattered.
Wallpaper tore like screaming fabric.
CRASH—THUD—AAAAAAA—SOMEONE CATCH ME—
The group landed on their backs in a massive, circular chamber.
Unlike the previous rooms, this one wasn't dark.
It glowed.
Not with light—
But with eyes.
Hundreds.
Thousands.
All over the walls.
Blinking.
Watching.
Following.
Mira choked on her breath.
"No. No no no NO—"
Zoya screamed and clung to her like Velcro.
"These eyes are judging my existence!"
Kian curled into a ball.
"This is my worst nightmare. This is ALL OF my nightmares."
Rhea trembled. "The house… it's awake."
Dev squinted. "What does that even MEAN—"
The entire chamber inhaled.
The walls expanded like lungs.
And exhaled with a deep, rumbling growl.
Ravi whispered what none of them wanted to accept:
"Guys… the house isn't haunted."
He swallowed hard.
"It's alive."
---
THE CHILD RETURNS
A small figure stood across the room.
The child.
But not the child anymore.
His outline flickered.
His limbs warped.
His shadow stretched across the floor like spilled ink.
His eyes were pure red—
bright as warning sirens.
He smiled slowly.
"You saved them."
His voice echoed unnaturally—
layered, distorted, wrong.
Aria took a shaky step forward.
"You… you're not their son, are you?"
The child tilted his head.
"No."
His voice deepened—
older than a child should sound.
"They had a son once."
He pointed to the walls.
"He's somewhere in there now."
The chamber's eyes blinked in unison.
Mira gagged.
"Oh my god—did the HOUSE EAT THEIR SON?!"
Kian screamed, "WHY IS EVERYTHING IN THIS HOUSE A SNACK?!"
The child laughed—
a sharp, glitching sound.
"They fed me their fear.
They fed me their grief.
And now…"
He raised his hand—
the floor rippled like muscle under skin.
"I hunger again."
---
THE HOUSE ATTACKS
Without warning—
SHOOMP!!
A massive chunk of the floor shot upward like a trapdoor flipping.
Dev barely dodged it.
"THE FLOOR IS THROWING HANDS!" he yelled.
Yuvan: "This house is DONE with us—"
The house: GROOOOAAAAAR
A section of the wall opened like a giant mouth—
jagged wood teeth snapping.
Kian screeched, "THE HOUSE IS TRYING TO EAT ME—AND I DIDN'T EVEN BRING SNACKS—"
Mira grabbed him by the collar. "RUN, YOU IDIOT!"
Zoya sobbed, "I'M NOT READY FOR ROUND 2 DEATH—THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A WARM-UP ROUND!"
The child raised both hands.
The house shifted again—
walls sliding, ceiling lowering, floor rippling.
Like they were inside a giant, angry stomach.
Rhea yelled, "WE NEED A PLAN!!"
Ravi shouted, "The spirits—! The mother, father, and baby—saving them weakened the house!"
Aria's eyes widened.
"So the house was feeding on their grief!"
"YES!" Ravi yelled.
"And now that we freed them, it's unstable! We just need one more hit—ONE STRONG ATTACK—"
But before Aria could answer—
The floor cracked open beneath Mira.
She screamed as her foot slipped through.
"MIRA!!" Zoya shrieked.
Dev dove—caught Mira by the wrist just in time.
The floor under her continued breaking apart like a starving creature trying to swallow her.
"Mira—don't move!" Dev said, voice shaking.
Mira cried, "I AM LITERALLY OVER A PIT OF DOOM! WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'DON'T MOVE'?!"
Yuvan hugged a nearby pillar.
"This house is UNHINGED."
Aria sprinted toward Mira—
But the child appeared in front of her, blocking the way.
His glitching face twisted into an unnatural smile.
"Only one of you needs to stay," he whispered.
Zoya screamed, "WE ARE NOT SACRIFICING ANYONE—WE ARE TOO YOUNG AND TOO CONFUSED—"
The child tilted his head.
"Then all of you will stay."
He snapped his fingers.
The floor began collapsing—
fast.
The group scrambled—
Dev pulling Mira up.
Kian dragging Yuvan by his hoodie.
Rhea clutching Ravi desperately.
Aria leaping over cracks.
The house trembled violently.
The child floated above the chaos, whispering:
"This story… is mine."
---
ARIA'S PLAN
Aria skidded to Ravi.
"What do we do?!"
Ravi yelled over the shaking floor:
"The house is alive—
so treat it like a living creature!"
Aria blinked.
"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!"
"ATTACK ITS HEART!"
Aria stared around frantically.
"A HOUSE HAS A HEART?!"
Ravi pointed at the ceiling.
There was a massive, glowing shape pulsing above them—
like a dark core.
Hidden until now.
Kian screamed, "THAT'S A HEART?! THAT'S A FREAKING ORGAN?!!"
Aria didn't think twice.
She grabbed a fallen lantern—
lit it with the sparking wires—
and hurled it with everything she had.
The lantern soared upward—
The child screamed, "DON'T—"
BOOOOM!!
The lantern hit the heart.
Fire exploded across the ceiling.
Light burst across the walls.
The chamber roared like a dying beast.
The eyes on the walls blinked rapidly—
then closed.
The floor stopped collapsing.
The shaking slowed.
The house groaned.
The child shrieked—
his form glitching violently.
"No…
no no no—
YOU RUINED MY STORY—"
His body split into flickering pixels.
He screamed one last time—
"I'LL BE BACK.
YOU CAN'T ESCAPE THE FINAL ROUND—"
And then he shattered.
Gone.
The house exhaled one last heavy breath—
and collapsed inward like a dying giant.
---
ROUND TWO COMPLETE
The scroll floated from the ashes.
ROUND 2 CLEARED
The House Has Fallen
The Family Is Free
The Child Is Gone (For Now)
The friends collapsed in exhausted, shaky relief.
Dev hugged Mira.
"Don't fall again. I'm aging from this."
Mira wiped tears.
"I thought I was dinner!"
Yuvan lay sprawled on the floor.
"I saw my life flash before my eyes. It was all memes."
Zoya sobbed dramatically.
"We survived a haunted house and emotional trauma in one day—"
Kian wheezed.
"I WANT A SPA DAY AND A NEW SOUL."
Rhea patted him. "Same."
Aria stared at the scroll.
Her hands trembling.
"Round Two… was insane."
Ravi nodded.
"And someone is controlling these stories."
Before anyone could reply—
A portal opened beneath them.
The scroll spoke:
"Prepare yourselves.
Story Three is loading."
They fell.
Again.
But this time…
They fell into a world roaring with flames.
Swords.
War cries.
Round 3 had no mercy.
---