They fell.
Again.
Through glitching walls, spiraling code, broken story fragments, and the faint echo of a child's eerie laughter.
THUD—CRASH—BONK—AAAA—MY SPINE—
The group landed in a pile for the 6th time in 24 hours.
Rhea groaned, "If falling was an Olympic sport, we'd win gold."
Kian sat up and squinted. "Where are we now? A fridge? A coffin? My ex's basement?"
Zoya smacked him. "Your ex doesn't even like basements."
Everyone paused.
The world around them was…
pitch black.
No moon.
No lanterns.
Just shadows.
Until suddenly—
CLICK.
A single flickering street lamp turned on.
Revealing the entrance to a massive, old, crumbling Victorian mansion.
Tall.
Twisted.
Broken windows.
Rotted porch.
The kind of place horror movies are too scared to use.
Ravi whispered, "No. Nope. No. I refuse. I reject this genre."
Yuvan stared up at the mansion. "Why does the house look like it wants to eat us?"
Dev swallowed. "Because it probably does…"
Aria's hands shook as she picked up the scroll lying in front of the mansion gate.
It glowed blood-red this time.
STORY 2: THE HOUSE THAT BREATHES
Objective:
Enter the house.
Uncover the family's fate.
Survive the night.
(Don't listen to the whispers.)
Zoya read it twice. "D-don't listen to the whispers?! Why would you even WRITE that?"
The wind suddenly whispered—
"Come inside…"
They all screamed and huddled together like a dysfunctional penguin family.
Kian shouted, "NO! The scroll literally said DON'T LISTEN—WHY IS THE HOUSE TALKING LIKE A DEMON WITH FREE TIME?!"
Aria nervously approached the porch.
The wood creaked under her weight.
The entire mansion shook slightly…
as if inhaling.
Mira's voice trembled. "Guys… did it just breathe?"
Ravi's glasses fogged up. "OH GREAT. A LIVING HOUSE. THIS IS EVERY ARCHITECT'S NIGHTMARE."
Suddenly—
BOOOM!
The mansion doors swung open on their own.
Zoya: "NOPE."
Kian: "NO THANK YOU."
Rhea: "I want to respawn somewhere safe."
Yuvan: "Guys, let's negotiate with the house—maybe it has snacks!"
Dev facepalmed so hard the sound echoed.
Aria took a deep breath.
"Guys… this is Round Two. We have to go in."
The others stared at her like she had become their villain arc.
"Are you insane?!" Kian yelled.
"YES," Aria replied. "BUT A CONFIDENT KIND."
And with that, she stepped into the mansion.
---
INSIDE THE MANSION
The inside was worse.
Much worse.
Chandeliers swayed even though there was no wind.
Portraits followed them with their eyes.
The wallpaper peeled itself off the wall like it wanted freedom.
And in the center of the dark hallway…
Sat a child.
A little boy.
The same boy who watched them fall at the end of Round 1.
Except now—
He smiled wider.
Too wide.
Like his mouth was learning how to smile for the first time.
"Welcome," he whispered. "I've been waiting."
Every single one of the eight friends backed up in sync.
Dev whispered, "This child is not a child. This is a demon in a baby-sized body."
Ravi trembled. "This is the creepiest NPC I've ever seen."
The boy tilted his head and the lights flickered violently.
"You shouldn't be afraid," he said softly.
"Not yet."
Zoya stepped behind Mira. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN NOT YET?! IS THERE A 'SUPER FEAR' MODE?!"
The boy stood up slowly.
"You're here to find them, right?"
"The family?"
Aria nodded weakly. "Yes… what happened to them?"
The boy's smile faded.
"The house… ate them."
Silence.
Pure, frozen silence.
Rhea squeaked, "E-e-e-ATE?! LIKE A SNACK?!"
The child nodded like he was discussing the weather.
"They tried to escape the whispers."
"They failed."
The lights flickered again.
The boy suddenly vanished.
Just gone.
No fade.
No sound.
No animation.
He simply disappeared.
Kian clapped his hands. "GOOD. GREAT. AMAZING. I'M DONE. LET ME GO BACK TO ROUND 1."
But Aria was staring ahead.
At the stairs.
At the shadow crawling across the wall—
moving on its own.
Like something was crawling inside the house.
---
THE HOUSE MAKES A MOVE
A loud creaking noise echoed from upstairs.
Followed by…
A giggle.
Mira froze. "That… was a child giggle."
Yuvan clutched Dev's sleeve. "Or a demon giggle."
Zoya whispered, "Guys… look at the wall."
They turned.
The wallpaper was peeling off… forming symbols.
Words.
DON'T TRUST THE CHILD.
Rhea gasped. "WHAT KIND OF HAUNTED IKEA NOTE IS THIS?!"
Kian gulped. "Wait. Does that mean—"
A whisper drifted from behind them:
"He lies."
They spun.
The child stood there again.
Face emotionless.
Eyes black.
Voice cold.
"You shouldn't be here."
"That's the hundredth time someone said that to us," Mira snapped.
The child tilted his head again.
"But since you're here…
let's play a game."
The entire mansion shook—
lights burst—
doors slammed—
floors trembled.
A new scroll materialized in Aria's hands.
MINI-GAME UNLOCKED:
Hide-and-Seek.
Find the family's spirits before the house finds YOU.
Time Limit: 10 Minutes
Zoya shrieked. "WHO PUT A TIMER ON HIDE-AND-SEEK?!"
Ravi screamed, "WHO PLAYS HIDE-AND-SEEK WITH A DEMON CHILD?!"
Dev shouted, "WE DO APPARENTLY!"
The child smiled again.
The lights went out.
Total darkness.
A voice whispered—
"Start running."
---
THE GAME BEGINS
In the pitch-black mansion, the group heard footsteps—
many footsteps—
scurrying across walls and ceilings.
Not human ones.
Rhea whispered, "I can't see anything—"
Then—
A hundred glowing eyes opened in the darkness.
Not human.
Not friendly.
Not blinking.
And the house whispered softly:
"Come find us…"
Before they could scream—
The game started.
And Round 2 officially became a nightmare.
---