The House at Blackwood Hill – Part 3
The wind had stopped.
That was the first thing Daw noticed.
Blackwood Hill was never quiet. Even on still nights, something whispered through the trees. But now—nothing. No leaves rustling. No distant crows. Just the house.
Waiting.
Daw stood at the edge of the overgrown path, flashlight trembling slightly in his hand. The front door he'd sworn was closed now hung open a few inches.
He hadn't touched it.
He stepped forward.
The porch boards didn't creak this time.
Inside, the air felt colder than before, sharp and metallic. His beam swept across the hallway—and froze.
The mirror at the end of the corridor wasn't cracked anymore.
It was whole.
And in its reflection, someone was standing behind him.
Daw spun around.
No one.
Slowly, heart hammering, he turned back to the mirror.
Now the reflection showed the hallway… empty.
"Okay," he whispered to himself. "I'm not crazy."
From upstairs, something shifted.
A soft dragging sound.
Daw swallowed. In Part 2, he'd promised himself he wouldn't go back upstairs.
But promises felt small compared to curiosity.
The stairs groaned under his weight as he climbed. Halfway up, he noticed something new carved into the wood of the banister.
Three letters.
D A W.
His breath caught.
He reached out, brushing his fingers over the grooves. They were fresh. Splintered.
Behind him—
A whisper.
"Don't finish it."
He turned slowly.
At the top of the stairs stood a door he hadn't seen before. Thin. Crooked. Barely attached to its hinges.
It was open just enough to see darkness beyond.
And from that darkness, something pale shifted.
Daw forced himself to move.
One step.
Two.
The door creaked wider on its own.
Inside the room, the walls were covered in writing—hundreds of repeated words scratched into peeling wallpaper:
STAY
STAY
STAY
But at the center of the room, in large uneven letters:
DAW STAY
His flashlight flickered.
Then went out.
The whisper came again, closer now. Not from the room.
From behind him.
"You came back."
Daw didn't turn around this time.
Instead, he reached forward and pushed the door fully open—
And the floor disappeared beneath his feet.