The first night at The Grey Estate left Rayden with dark circles under his eyes and a tension in his shoulders that refused to leave.
Morning sunlight spilled into the dusty room, and Rayden sat up, wincing at the stiffness in his back from the thin futon. He rubbed his eyes, trying to shake off the memory of the thuds and clangs that echoed beneath the floor the previous night.
"It's probably just… old pipes. Or rats. Really big rats."
He forced himself to stand, stretching, listening to the quiet creak of the wooden floors. The silence of the estate was heavy, pressing against his ears like cotton, making every breath sound louder.
Rayden's days at The Grey Estate were slow.
He swept the floors, wiped the layers of dust from the windows, and opened the creaking cabinets to find old plates and cups that hadn't seen daylight in years. Occasionally, he'd step outside to sit on the crumbling porch, the cicadas buzzing in the warm air, the breeze carrying the scent of grass and old wood.
Food was simple. Rice, canned beans, and the occasional packet of instant noodles his parents sent with a little money when they could. He rationed everything carefully, never knowing when the next bit of cash would come.
At night, he would try to sleep.
That was when the noises came back.
Thud… thunk… clang…
Sometimes it was faint, like something shifting beneath the floors far below. Other times, it was loud enough to rattle the floorboards, shaking the old picture frames on the walls.
Rayden lay awake, eyes open, blanket pulled up to his chin as he listened to the eerie sounds.
"What is down there?" he whispered into the darkness.
No answer came, only the distant clang of something heavy striking stone, followed by silence, and then a low rumble like a growl echoing from deep underground.
After a week, the noises became unbearable.
Rayden was exhausted, dark circles sinking deeper under his eyes. The estate felt like a prison, the walls closing in on him with every sleepless night.
During the day, he tried to distract himself by cleaning or cooking, but every creak in the floor made him flinch, every gust of wind through the cracks in the windows made him freeze.
At night, the noises grew louder, closer, as if whatever was below the estate was moving upward, scratching at the stone, dragging chains, growling in anger.
One night, as the noises roared beneath the floor, Rayden snapped.
"SHUT UP!"
He shouted into the darkness, slamming his fist against the floor.
The noises stopped for a moment, and Rayden held his breath, heart pounding in his ears.
Then—
BOOM!
The loudest crash yet shook the entire house, dust raining from the ceiling, a crack forming on the wall beside him. Rayden fell back, clutching his chest, gasping for air.
"That's it," he whispered, eyes wild. "I can't take this anymore."
The next morning, Rayden stood outside the estate, shovel in hand, staring at the patch of ground near the back of the house where the noises seemed loudest at night.
"If the noises won't stop, I'll find out what's causing them."
He stabbed the shovel into the dirt, lifting the first clump of soil.
The sun was high and hot, sweat dripping down his neck as he dug. The earth was stubborn, rocks and roots slowing him down, but he kept going.
Shovel after shovel, dirt piling around him, Rayden dug deeper, ignoring the blisters forming on his palms, the ache in his shoulders, the sweat soaking through his shirt.
Hours passed, the hole growing deeper as Rayden's arms moved on pure frustration and fear. The noises hadn't come during the day, but in his mind, he could still hear them, scratching at the edges of his sanity.
Thud… clang… growl…
His breathing was ragged, his muscles burning, but he didn't stop.
"I'll find it. I'll end it."
As the sun began to set, the hole was deep enough that Rayden had to struggle to climb out. He looked down into the darkness he had dug, the earth cool and damp at the bottom.
"Tomorrow," he muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead, dirt sticking to his skin. "Tomorrow, I'll dig deeper."
That night, as the noises returned, Rayden lay on his futon, staring at the ceiling, eyes bloodshot.
For the first time, he wasn't scared.
He was angry.
Rayden didn't sleep that night, lying on the futon, eyes open, the growls and thuds echoing beneath the floor like a drumbeat daring him to move.
At dawn, he was outside again, shovel in hand, standing over the hole he had dug yesterday.
"Today, I'm ending this."
He jumped down into the hole, the cool earth swallowing him. With a grunt, he stabbed the shovel into the damp soil, throwing it aside, digging deeper and deeper, dirt caking his hands and arms, sweat dripping into his eyes.
Thunk… thunk…
The shovel hit something harder than dirt. Rayden paused, wiping the sweat with the back of his arm, and dug around the object.
A glint of green peeked through the dirt.
"What the hell…"
He pulled at it, revealing a strange plant, its leaves an unnatural, deep green with veins that pulsed faintly like they were alive. The stem was thick, and the leaves were sharp enough to cut the skin if touched carelessly.
Rayden plucked it carefully, placing it in a small bag tied to his belt.
"Rare herb, maybe?" he muttered, remembering how herbalists paid high for wild finds.
A low growl rumbled from somewhere below, vibrating through the earth, making the walls of the hole tremble. Rayden froze, the hair on the back of his neck standing up.
ROOOOOOAR!
The roar was loud enough to make his ears ring, and dirt shook loose from the walls, falling around him.
"Yeah, I definitely heard that."
But Rayden's eyes were wild, determined. If something was down there, he needed to know what. Needed to stop it.
He kept digging, the growls and roars echoing now and then, each one sounding closer, more real, but he didn't stop.
Hours passed, the hole deepening until the sunlight was only a sliver above him. His arms screamed in pain, his palms raw, but he kept going, deeper into the earth.
The shovel struck something hard again, but this time it wasn't a plant.
Rayden scraped away the dirt, revealing a glowing blue crystal embedded in the wall. It pulsed softly, like a heartbeat, illuminating the dark tunnel with a cold light.
"A crystal…?"
Rayden touched it, feeling a sharp, cold sting, and pulled back. The edge where the crystal broke was sharp, almost like glass.
"If there's something down there, I'm not going unarmed."
He broke off a shard, gripping it carefully in his hand. The crystal was cold but hummed with a strange energy that made the air feel alive around it.
As he dug further, he found more herbs—red-leafed plants with silver spots, mushrooms that glowed faintly in the dark, vines that curled around his ankles as if they were alive.
It felt like he was descending into another world hidden beneath the estate, one filled with life and danger.
Grrrrrrrr…
A growl echoed from below, louder this time, followed by a low rumble, like something was moving across stone.
Rayden's grip on the crystal tightened.
"Come on, then."
Finally, the shovel broke through the last layer of dirt with a crunch, and suddenly, the ground beneath him gave way.
Rayden yelped as he fell, dirt and rocks tumbling with him. He landed with a painful thud on something soft and mossy, air whooshing out of his lungs.
Groaning, he pushed himself up, the crystal shard still clutched in his shaking hand.
He looked around.
He was in a massive underground cavern, its walls lined with glowing blue and green crystals, illuminating patches of strange herbs growing from the mossy ground. Stalactites dripped water into small pools, and the air was thick with the scent of damp earth and something metallic.
A cold breeze brushed against his skin, coming from a large, dark cave entrance at the far end of the cavern.
From inside the cave, he heard it.
GRRRR… ROOOOOAR!
The roar was deafening, the ground trembling under his feet.
Rayden's eyes widened, breath caught in his throat.
"This… was under The Grey Estate all along?"
He took a cautious step forward, the crystal shard glowing faintly in his hand as he approached the cave, the darkness inside like a gaping maw ready to swallow him.
And then, from the darkness, two glowing yellow eyes opened, fixing on him.
Rayden's heart skipped a beat as he froze, staring into the cave as a low growl rolled out, shaking the moss beneath his feet.
"Oh… shit."
To be continued…