The House in the Woods

 Emma and Liam had been searching for the perfect home for months. When they stumbled upon the charming colonial house on Maple Hollow Lane, it felt like fate. The property came with a vast backyard that stretched into the forest, its edge marked by an old, wrought-iron gate. The realtor had mentioned something about "historical charm" and "expansive land," but Emma and Liam were more interested in the cozy, sunlit kitchen and the wraparound porch. They signed the papers without hesitation.
On their first night, as they unpacked boxes, Emma found an old skeleton key in the kitchen drawer. It was heavy and ornate, its metal worn with age. “It’s probably for one of the old doors,” she mused.
Liam shrugged. “Or the basement. We should explore that tomorrow.”
The following day, curiosity got the better of them. They wandered through their new home, testing the key on various locks. It fit none. When they stepped into the backyard, the key’s purpose became clear. It matched the rusted lock on the gate leading into the woods.
Behind the gate was an overgrown path that wound deeper into the trees. They followed it, pushing aside branches and vines, until they stumbled upon something that made them stop in their tracks: a sprawling, decaying mansion hidden in the heart of the forest. Its once-grand façade was shrouded in ivy, its windows dark and foreboding.
“Did the realtor mention this?” Liam asked, his voice uneasy.
Emma shook her head. “Not a word. How is this even here?”
Against their better judgment, they approached the mansion. The key, as if drawn by some unseen force, slid easily into the massive front door’s lock. The door creaked open, revealing a grand but crumbling interior. A chandelier hung precariously above the foyer, and dusty furniture stood like ghosts of the past.
As they explored, an unsettling feeling settled over them. The air was heavy, the silence oppressive. In one room, Emma found an old journal resting on a cracked wooden table. The entries spoke of a family who had lived in the mansion long ago—a wealthy patriarch, his wife, and their three children. But as the journal progressed, the tone darkened. It spoke of strange occurrences, whispers in the night, and sightings of figures lurking in the woods.
One entry chilled her to the bone:
“They want the house. They want us gone. But the mansion… it’s theirs now.”
A loud crash echoed from upstairs, cutting through the oppressive quiet. Liam grabbed Emma’s hand, and they bolted out of the house.
That night, back in their own home, they tried to rationalize what they’d seen. “It’s just an old, abandoned house,” Liam insisted, though his voice wavered.
But the strange occurrences didn’t stop. At night, they heard faint footsteps on the roof and whispers outside their windows. Shadows danced in the corners of their vision, vanishing when they turned to look.
One evening, Emma ventured into the basement, where she found a set of old photographs. They were black and white, showing the mansion in its prime. But in each photo, there was a shadowy figure standing just out of focus, its hollow eyes staring directly at the camera.
The next day, they confronted their realtor, who reluctantly admitted the truth. “The mansion is part of the property,” she confessed. “But… it’s been abandoned for decades. The previous owners refused to go near it.”
Determined to uncover the mystery, Emma and Liam returned to the mansion. This time, they delved deeper, finding rooms filled with decayed furniture and relics of the past. In the attic, they discovered a hidden room, its walls covered in strange symbols. In the center of the room stood a mirror, its surface unnaturally dark.
When Emma approached, the surface rippled, and a hand reached out, clawing at the air. She screamed as a figure began to emerge—a pale, hollow-eyed woman with a sinister grin.
They fled, but the entity followed. It didn’t stay confined to the mansion. It began appearing in their home, her presence growing stronger with each passing day. The house became a prison, every creak and shadow a reminder of the malevolent force they had awakened.
Desperate, they researched the mansion’s history, uncovering a story of betrayal, murder, and a curse that bound the spirits of the dead to the property. The mansion, they realized, was the source of it all—a gateway to something far darker than they had imagined.
Now, Emma and Liam are trapped, their once-perfect home overshadowed by the horrors lurking in the woods. And every night, they hear the faint sound of footsteps coming closer, accompanied by a whisper:
"You’re part of it now."