The town of Grey Hollow had a strange way of staying silent, even during the day.
The wind moved through broken street lamps. Shops stood open but empty, their faded signboards swinging slowly as if they were still waiting for customers who never returned. And at the very edge of the town, hidden behind dying banyan trees and rusted iron gates, stood the Harrowick Mansion.
No one lived there anymore.
No one even walked near it.
Except Elara Quinn.
Elara adjusted the strap of her camera bag as she pushed open the heavy iron gate. It screamed loudly, the sound echoing into the fog that hugged the mansion like it was protecting it.
She loved abandoned buildings. Old walls told stories most people ignored. As an architecture student, documenting forgotten structures was her passion… and maybe her obsession.
Behind her, the taxi driver honked twice, clearly impatient.
"You sure you wanna stay here till evening?" he shouted nervously.
Elara smiled politely and nodded. "I'll be fine."
The driver didn't look convinced. He leaned out of the window and muttered, "Just don't stay till midnight. No one stays till midnight."
Before she could ask why, he drove away.
The mansion stood in front of her, tall and broken, yet strangely beautiful. Ivy had swallowed most of the outer walls. The balcony railings hung loose like fragile ribs. Several windows were shattered, but the main wooden door looked untouched… as if someone cleaned it every day.
Elara stepped inside.
Dust floated through the air like sleepy fireflies. The smell of old wood and damp paper filled her lungs. She pulled out her camera and began taking photos. The grand staircase curved elegantly upward, and cracked portraits still hung along the walls. The faces in them were faded, their eyes barely visible.
She walked slowly through the ground floor, noting carvings, wall textures, and the unusual symmetry of the layout. Everything matched the blueprints she had studied… until she reached the east corridor.
Elara stopped.
She flipped open her notebook and checked the layout sketch she copied from the town archives. According to the blueprint, the east corridor was supposed to end after three rooms.
But the hallway in front of her stretched far longer.
The corridor was narrow and dim, lit only by broken ceiling lamps. The wallpaper peeled in long strips, revealing older layers beneath. The floorboards creaked as she stepped forward, counting doors on both sides.
One. Two. Three.
She paused.
There should not be a fourth door.
Elara turned back, checking the corridor behind her. The entrance she came from looked farther away now. The fog outside had darkened the glass windows, making the hallway feel sealed off from the world.
She took another step forward.
At the very end of the corridor, she noticed something strange. The wallpaper there looked smoother than the rest. Newer. Almost… untouched.
Curiosity tugged at her.
She moved closer and brushed her fingers against the wall.
The wallpaper shifted slightly under her touch, like it was loosely covering something solid beneath.
Elara frowned.
Then she noticed faint carvings pressing through the wallpaper surface. Swirling patterns. Symbols. Almost like… letters trying to escape.
Her heartbeat quickened.
She raised her camera and took a picture.
The flash filled the corridor for a split second.
And in that brief burst of light… Elara swore she saw the outline of a wooden door beneath the wallpaper.
But when the light faded, the wall looked completely normal again.
Behind her, something creaked.
Not in front of her.
Behind her.
Slowly… like a door opening somewhere inside the mansion.