Thembeka sat frozen at the bottom of the stairs, her breath shallow and rapid. The darkness pressed in like a living thing, thick and suffocating. She could still feel Lwandle's cold smile burning into her mind.
A faint whisper slithered through the silence, barely audible but unmistakable. It called her name.
"Mom... Thembeka..." The voice was both familiar and wrong, like a shadow of her own thoughts.
Her hands trembled as she clutched the Bible tighter. "Stay strong," she told herself. "It's only fear."
But the whisper grew louder, echoing off the walls, twisting into ghastly shapes of words she couldn't understand.
Suddenly, the basement door creaked open slowly, revealing a blackness deeper than night itself. From its depths, two glowing red eyes stared back.
Lwandle's voice echoed from within the abyss, distant but chilling. "The pact is sealed. We walk together now."
Thembeka's heart shattered. The boy she knew was gone, swallowed by the darkness beneath their home.
She rose, determination burning in her eyes. If the demon child was lost, she would have to face the shadows alone. Whatever lurked in the basement was no longer just a nightmare — it was reality, and it was hungry.
The whispers turned into a low chant as the air grew colder, wrapping around her like icy chains.
She stepped forward into the darkness.