Halloween Story #2 - The Waiting Part 3

Jack stared at his sister, unsure whether to believe his eyes. Something about her was wrong—her expression was twisted with fear, but there was something hollow in her eyes, as if a piece of her was missing.

His father hesitated, but moved closer, extending his hand. As soon as he touched her, a violent cold shot through the air. Emily recoiled, her form flickering for a moment, like a glitch in reality itself. Jack gasped—he could see through her.

Emily wasn’t fully there. The person standing in front of them was only a fragment of his sister.

Terror washed over them. Emily managed to whisper, "It’s not just me... it’s all of us."

Suddenly, a loud thud echoed from upstairs. The family froze, their eyes wide with fear. Slowly, Jack moved toward the noise, only to stop in his tracks. He saw something that made his blood run cold: another version of Emily standing at the top of the stairs, staring blankly ahead, her eyes blackened, her smile unnervingly wide.

The truth hit Jack like a sledgehammer. The figure in the basement wasn’t fully Emily. Whatever had followed her home had split her into fragments—echoes of her trapped between dimensions. The entity wasn’t just tormenting her; it was feeding off of their family, manipulating time and space, and pulling them into its twisted reality.

The knocking continued, louder now, coming from all directions. Every knock was a different version of Emily, trapped in other realities, trying to break free.

And then, as Jack and his parents stood frozen, the basement door slammed shut. The lights flickered, casting twisted shadows across the walls. Jack could feel the walls closing in, reality bending, as if they were being pulled into the same fractured existence.

The last thing Jack heard before the darkness consumed them was Emily’s voice, whispering in his ear:

"It’s not over. We’re all part of it now."

The house went silent, the street outside as still as ever.