Chapter 8: Shadows in the Attic
The silence in the house was heavier than ever. Lerato stared at the attic door they had opened in Chapter 4. The wooden ladder creaked beneath her weight as she slowly climbed upward. Behind her, Thabo and Simo exchanged anxious glances but followed without argument. No one dared to break the silence with speech they could feel the house listening.
The attic smelt like dust, old wood, and something… rotten.
Lerato was the first to step onto the attic floor, her flashlight sweeping across broken furniture, cracked mirrors, and torn dolls. The walls were scribbled with red chalk drawings trees, eyes, and screaming mouths.
"Guys… look at this." She pointed at a large, old trunk in the corner. The moment Thabo opened it, a cold wind burst out as if something had been trapped inside. They jumped back, but the trunk was empty… except for a journal.
Simo picked it up. "It's written in Setswana… It's old."
Thabo translated aloud as Simo flipped through the pages. "This house was never meant to be found… It feeds on fear. It whispers lies. Those who listen, die."
Lerato swallowed. That explains the voices.
Just then, the attic door slammed shut behind them.Thabo ran to it, pulling hard. It's locked!
A laugh echoed from the walls dry and hollow. The attic lights flickered, and one by one, the mirrors on the walls cracked.
There's something here with us, Lerato whispered.
Suddenly, Lerato's flashlight caught something eyes, watching from the far corner. A pale face, smiling too wide, too still. Then it vanished.
Simo clutched the journal tighter. It says the only way to survive is to confront the house. It traps souls. If we run, we become part of it.
Thabo backed away from the mirrors. You mean we have to face whatever's hunting us?
Yes,Simo whispered. Or we die here.
A loud crash came from beneath them. The house was shifting again walls groaning, windows shattering below. The attic floor shook violently, tossing Lerato onto her back.
When she sat up, she wasn't in the attic anymore.She was in the forest.Alone.
Lerato spun around. The trees were tall and blackened. Fog twisted between them like hands. "Thabo? Simo?" she shouted.
No answer.
The journal was gone. Even her flashlight was gone. All she had was her breath and the rising panic in her chest.
A shadow darted past behind her.
She turned quickly but saw nothing.
Then voices.
"Lerato… come closer… help me…"
It was her mother's voice. But Lerato wasn't stupid. She knew this wasn't real.
You're not her, she said firmly.
Suddenly, a figure stepped out of the fog. It looked like her mother exactly like her. But her eyes were empty, and her smile stretched unnaturally.
You don't love me?the thing whispered, stepping closer.
Lerato took a step back. You're a lie.
The creature lunged but instead of running, Lerato screamed back at it, a loud cry of anger and fear. The forest shivered and the figure vanished into ash.
Suddenly, the fog cleared. Lerato stood alone in a small clearing, and then, she blinked,She was back in the attic.
Gasping.
Thabo and Simo were staring at her. You just disappeared! Thabo said. One second you were here, and then gone!
I think… I think the house makes us face our fears, Lerato panted. "It feeds on them, but maybe that's also the way to beat it."
Simo nodded. Face it, don't run.
They turned to the mirrors again. One remained unbroken.
In it, they saw something another version of themselves, standing in the same attic, but pale… and crying blood.
They look like us… Thabo whispered.
But twisted, Lerato said. Reflections?
The reflection Lerato in the mirror reached out a hand. Then, without warning, the mirror shattered on its own, and blood splashed onto the floor.
Behind them, the trunk rattled again.
Simo stepped forward. This house is alive. It doesn't want us to leave.
Then we make it let us go, Lerato said.
She stomped toward the attic floor and stomped hard. We're not afraid of you!
The walls screamed. Literally. A horrible sound that shook the whole house.
The floor beneath them cracked open.
They fell.
They landed in the basement.
No lights.
Pitch black.
Lerato felt something cold touch her shoulder. She turned quickly. Thabo and Simo were beside her, breathing hard.
Where are we now?Simo asked.
Lerato turned on her flashlight. The walls were covered in photos faces of children, adults, some half-erased, some crossed out.
Those are… victims, Thabo said.
They were all the people the house had taken.
In the center of the basement was a table. On it, a doll that looked like Lerato. It blinked.
Lerato stepped forward. This is the heart of it.
Suddenly, hands reached out from the walls, dozens of them ghostly, bony, pulling at their clothes.
Lerato grabbed the doll and threw it into a pile of broken glass.
The house screamed again.
The hands vanished.
And then light.
The basement door opened on its own.
They ran.
Up the stairs, through the house, ignoring the voices, the shadows, the whispers. They reached the front door and it opened.
They stepped into the daylight.
Outside.
Free.
The house behind them stood silent. Empty. No more whispers.
Simo turned to Lerato. We survived.
Lerato nodded. And we're not going back.
Thabo whispered, Let's burn it.
She smiled. Let's.