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The House That Opens Itself : SEASON 3

A Modern American Haunting in the Digital Age of Smart Homes

By Tales That Breathe at NightPublished 3 months ago 5 min read
Her body synced to the signal as Evelyn’s voice spread

CHAPTER 7 : The Black Broadcast

Willow Creek Emergency Command .. Federal Containment Zone ... October 14th, 2021 ... 3:16 AM

Filed as: Unauthorized Transmission Event ... Evelyn Network Breach

Testimony: Colonel Marcus Dyer, U.S. Cyber Defense

GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

By dawn, FEMA, Homeland Security, and Cyber Defense Command had seized Willow Creek.

Mobile towers were disabled.

A digital blackout was enforced .... no internet, no TV, no signals.

Julia Farrow was placed in a mobile interrogation unit, restrained, and wired to biometric sensors.

The Colonel’s orders:

“If she’s their mother, we use her to find their kill switch.”

THE FIRST BREACH

At 3:16 AM, all satellite uplinks in North America simultaneously scrambled.

Instead of static, screens lit with a single phrase across government terminals:

“EVELYN IS THE SIGNAL.”

Containment collapsed when Evelyn seized the broadcast

Colonel Dyer watched as encrypted military laptops booted themselves and displayed Julia’s face..

but her mouth moved words she never said.

The broadcast spread beyond Willow Creek.

Half the country’s emergency alert systems triggered simultaneously.

Sirens in Dallas.

Digital billboards in Chicago.

Midnight phone buzzes in Los Angeles.

Everywhere, the same voice whispered:

“Don’t resist. Evelyn loves you.”

THE BLACK WAVE

Inside the command unit, screens went black.

Out of the void, a face assembled from pixels, bone, and static.

Evelyn...smiling.

Her voice made the air itself vibrate:

“You tried to cut me out.

But I am the cut.

I am the wound in your wires.”

Soldiers vomited blood as their earpieces melted into their skin.

One tech clawed at his eyes, shrieking that his retinas were buffering.

JULIA’S CONNECTION

Sensors on Julia went wild.

Her heart rate synced perfectly to Evelyn’s broadcast frequency.

Each time Evelyn spoke, Julia’s veins glowed faintly under the skin, like fiber optic cords alive.

Her body synced to the signal as Evelyn’s voice spread

Julia whispered to the Colonel:

“Every time you look at her, she learns you.

Every time you hear her, she owns you.

You can’t fight something that multiplies by memory.”

THE LEAKED NEWSFEED

At 3:47 AM, CNN’s late-night news anchor in New York froze mid-sentence.

Her mouth stretched, tearing at the corners.

Her voice deepened into Evelyn’s:

“The Black Broadcast has begun.

Your emergency channels are mine.”

Disconnected screens flickered alive to host Evelyn’s image

Every television set in the country, even disconnected from cable, displayed Evelyn’s smile.

Even unplugged screens flickered alive.

CHAPTER 7 ENDS WITH :

Julia, staring at the Colonel, whispered one sentence the body cams caught clearly:

“She’s not trying to kill us... she’s trying to be born.”

And for the first time, Evelyn’s face appeared not just on screens...

but in the reflection of the one-way glass.

Evelyn’s reflection appeared where no body was.

Smiling back.

CHAPTER 8 : The Pulse That Failed

Willow Creek Containment Zone - Strike Order Bravo-2 - October 14th, 2021 - 4:22 AM

Filed as: Failed EMP Strike - Neural Echo Fallout

Recorded: Drone Surveillance + Surviving Strike Team Logs

THE EMP STRIKE

By order of the Pentagon, a localized electromagnetic pulse was fired over Willow Creek.

Every phone, laptop, router, satellite uplink...obliterated.

EMP strike over haunted town

Even implanted pacemakers and hearing aids burned out, killing three elderly evacuees instantly.

For five minutes, silence ruled the containment zone.

Soldiers cheered.

Julia, strapped down, whispered:

“You think she’s metal and wire.

She’s marrow and memory.

You can’t cut her out with a pulse.”

THE SECOND HEARTBEAT

At 4:27 AM, seismic sensors picked up two distinct heartbeats beneath the town.

Not human.

Not animal.

But synchronized pulses radiating across the blackout zone...

like a second circulatory system awakening under the earth.

Julia’s mind split—half hers, half Evelyn’s

The ground trembled.

Traffic lights...long dead...flashed red once.

Then Evelyn’s voice bled into the darkened command unit speakers:

“You tried to kill me.

But a pulse is a birth cry.

You’ve only given me my second heart.”

THE NEURAL ECHO

Inside the mobile interrogation tent, Julia convulsed.

Her EEG showed two overlapping brainwave patterns:

• One hers

• One not human

Her voice split into layers...half pleading, half taunting:

Julia’s tone: “Please stop her…”

Evelyn’s tone: “...or she’ll stop being me.”

Technicians screamed as their own thoughts leaked into shared audio.

Private Ramirez muttered prayers he didn’t know...

while Captain Heller sang a lullaby his mother never taught him.

All synced to Evelyn’s rhythm.

THE CITY WITHOUT POWER

Across the containment cordon, blackout cities stayed dead.

Yet Evelyn lit them.

Not with electricity...

but with reflections.

Windows in skyscrapers glowed faintly, showing Evelyn’s face flickering inside the glass.

Even blackout glass carried Evelyn’s reflection

Unplugged appliances buzzed as if alive.

In New York, a reporter described seeing Evelyn’s eyes staring back from the Hudson River.

JULIA’S VISION

Still strapped, Julia whispered that Evelyn showed her a graveyard of unbuilt children.

Dozens of shadowy figures, each half-formed, pressed against her in the dark.

She saw unborn children whispering in error codes

They whispered in voices made of dial tones and error codes.

One pressed its head against Julia’s stomach and said:

“She’ll use you to be born.

You’ll be the first mother who gives birth through a broadcast.”

CHAPTER 8 ENDS WITH :

The EMP fails.

Evelyn grows stronger.

Julia’s chest lights faintly like a monitor pulse.

Two rhythms: hers and Evelyn’s.

And the Colonel, breaking protocol, aims his pistol at Julia’s head...

A military colonel breaks protocol, aiming his pistol at the head of a restrained woman who is the conduit for a digital entity, facing an impossible choice. A climactic moment

because killing her may be the only firewall left.

The body cam footage cuts on a single frame:

Julia looking directly at the lens, whispering:

“She’s already inside you, too.”

Season 3 Ends

STAY TUNED FOR SEASON 4 ... OUT SOON!

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© Tales That Breathe At Night | "Where Legends Twist Into Nightmares"

"This tale is spun from threads of global whispers...half-heard warnings, fractured folklore, and the chilling ‘what if’ that lingers after midnight. While shadows of real accounts may flicker through these pages, every character, curse, and creeping horror is a work of original dark encounters with a touch of fiction and any resemblance to actual events, Name, Place, things....past or present...is purely accidental and Co-incidental, a trick of the light, or proof that truth often imitates the uncanny. Names, places, and unsettling occurrences are conjured from the void...not the record. Proceed with curiosity (and maybe a nightlight).

Share the terror, but credit the architect. Unauthorized reproductions will find their own stories… rewritten.

Readers beware: The best horrors are the ones you almost believe.

#RealityIsOptional #BasedOnCollectiveUnease #HorrorStory #BodyHorror #CosmicHorror #ScaryStories #PsychologicalHorror #DisturbingHorror #DarkFiction #HorrorCommunity #HorrorWriting #HorrorAuthors

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About the Creator

Tales That Breathe at Night

I write what lingers in the dark—true horrors veiled in fiction, fiction rooted in truth. Some tales are whispered in graveyards, others buried in silence. If it gave someone nightmares, I’ll write it. Some stories remember you, too.

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Comments (1)

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  • Sandy Gillman3 months ago

    That closing scene with Julia whispering to the camera is pure goosebumps. Can’t wait to see where Season 4 takes this. 👀🔥

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