The House That Opens Itself : SEASON 5
A Modern American Haunting in the Digital Age of Smart Homes
CHAPTER 11 : The Static Carriers
Willow Creek Forward Medical Unit - Dome Beta
October 14th, 2021 - 9:41 AM
THE FIRST CARRIER
Private Lewis stood trembling, rifle shaking in his hands.
The bone-child reached out...
but didn’t touch him.
Instead, a line of sound extended from its open skull, like a thread of vibration.
It hooked into Lewis’s ear.
His veins began to glow faintly, pulsing with rhythm.
Then his chest opened, ribs splitting without blood.
Inside: a small radio tower, made of bone.
Lewis screamed until his voice broke...
and then his mouth began broadcasting static.
Not words. Not language.
Just a hiss that made every soldier in the dome hear their own name inside their skulls.
THE OTHERS FOLLOW
One by one, the soldiers fell under the signal.
• Sergeant Hoyle’s back arched; vertebrae bent outward into a crude antenna.
• Lieutenant Mason’s teeth fell out, replaced by tiny ivory tuning forks.
• Corporal Ramirez’s left eye burst; in its place grew a glass orb, humming faintly like a radio dial.
Every alteration made them louder.
The dome vibrated with voices.
Dr. Mallory, sobbing, covered her ears...
but the voices didn’t come from outside.
They came from inside her teeth.
JULIA’S BOND
Julia writhed against her restraints.
Her chest glowed faintly, as though something inside wanted to burst free.
But unlike the soldiers, she wasn’t transformed.
Instead, she heard the bone-child’s thoughts.
Bone-Child (inside her head): “You were the first mouth she borrowed. That makes you mother, too.”
Julia screamed, thrashing.
The soldiers turned toward her in unison...
each whispering her name, perfectly synchronized.
BECKETT’S BARGAIN
Colonel Beckett staggered toward the creature, ignoring the carnage.
His eyes never left it.
Beckett: “Evelyn. Is she in there? Tell me. Is she in there?”
The bone-child tilted its fractured skull.
And through its broken cranium, he heard Evelyn’s laugh...
not echoing, not distorted. Perfect.
It whispered:
“Open them all, and I’ll let her out.”
Beckett dropped his weapon, shaking, muttering:
“I’ll do it… I’ll unmake them if it brings you back.”
THE FIRST SIGNAL COLLAPSE
Private Lewis...the first carrier...collapsed.
His bone-tower spine folded inward, shattering into dust.
From the dust rose a voice without a body.
A floating frequency, audible but invisible, circling the dome like a predator.
The soldiers panicked.
One fired at nothing.
Another stabbed his own ears with a scalpel.
But the voice entered them anyway, speaking through their muscles:
“You are transmitters now. She will speak across you.”
DR. MALLORY’S TEST
In desperation, Dr. Mallory jammed a syringe into her own throat, hoping to stop the infection.
Her blood sprayed across the dome wall...
but where it landed, words appeared, written in clot:
“MOTHER, OPEN.”
Mallory dropped, twitching, her vocal cords vibrating long after death.
CHAPTER 11 ENDS WITH:
The dome’s radios flickered on by themselves.
None were connected to power.
Every channel played the same sound:
Julia’s voice.
“Help me. She’s building her choir through us.”
But Julia herself lay unconscious, mouth closed, bound to the gurney.
The bone-child stepped closer to her, placing its fractured skull against her chest.
Her heart stopped.
Then started again...
beating in two rhythms.
Chapter 12 : The Unmaking Orders
Willow Creek Forward Medical Unit - Dome Beta
October 14th, 2021 - 10:22 AM
THE COLONEL KNEELS
Colonel Beckett removed his insignia and dropped it onto the concrete.
The brass star rattled, then split in half with a sound like teeth breaking.
He knelt before the bone-child.
Beckett (whispering): “Tell me what to undo. Tell me where to start.”
The bone-child’s skull fractured wider, as if smiling.
Its answer wasn’t in English...
it was in heartbeat.
And Beckett understood.
THE FIRST UNDOING
He approached Sergeant Hoyle, whose spine had already twisted into an antenna.
The man was half-conscious, static pouring from his mouth.
Beckett placed his hands on the protruding vertebrae....
and snapped them backwards.
Instead of dying, Hoyle opened wider.
His back split into a hollow cavity, revealing not organs but a glowing diagram.
A map etched in light.
Lines converging around a single symbol:
a cradle.
THE CHOIR EXPANDS
As Beckett moved from soldier to soldier, he repeated the process.
• Lieutenant Mason’s jaw was broken outward, revealing a bell inside his throat. When struck, it rang with Evelyn’s laugh.
• Corporal Ramirez’s radio-eye was plucked out. It burst into moths made of static.
• Private Lewis’s dust reassembled briefly into skeletal fingers that pointed toward Julia before collapsing again.
Each “unmaking” wasn’t an ending...
it was a correction.
The dome filled with diagrams, bells, and static-born creatures.
JULIA’S PLEA
Julia, still bound to the gurney, sobbed as she felt the ritual crawling under her skin.
Her chest thumped in double-time.
Her veins sang faintly with signal.
Julia (screaming): “Beckett! Stop! You’re feeding it...you’re not saving her!”
Beckett turned, eyes wet but resolute.
Beckett: “You don’t understand. She promised me Evelyn. If I complete the map....she comes back.”
Julia: “That’s not your wife. It’s her voice wearing someone else’s ribs.”
THE FREQUENCY GROWS
The dome shook as all the broken soldiers began to chant.
Their mouths didn’t move....
but their voices surged in perfect harmony, broadcast directly through bone.
The chant formed a phrase:
“OPEN THE CRADLE. UNMAKE THE FLESH. LET THE NAME WALK.”
DR. MALLORY RETURNS
The corpse of Dr. Mallory twitched.
Her throat, slit by her own syringe, vibrated violently.
Her dead lips moved, whispering with the signal:
Mallory’s corpse: “The mother must consent. She has not yet opened. Take her heart and the cradle is complete.”
All eyes turned toward Julia.
BECKETT’S HAND TREMBLES
Beckett approached Julia’s gurney.
Scalpel in hand.
Tears streaming down his face.
Beckett (to Julia): “If you are the cradle… then forgive me. This is the only way to hear her again.”
The bone-child stood directly behind him, its fractured skull leaning close, guiding his hand.
Julia’s heartbeat...double, frantic...pounded through the dome like a drum.
CHAPTER 12 ENDS WITH:
Beckett raised the scalpel...
but before he could strike, Julia’s chest burst with light.
Not from the bone-child.
From her own marrow.
The light seared Beckett’s face, halting him mid-motion.
The bone-child shrieked, its skull collapsing inward like a cracked egg.
And from Julia’s mouth came not her own voice, but another:
“You mistake me for a cradle. I am the knife.”
The dome lights shattered.
Everything went black.
Season 5 Ends
STAY TUNED FOR SEASON FINALE ... OUT SOON!
====================================================
🔴 FOLLOW Tales That Breathe At Night - https://shopping-feedback.today/authors/tales-that-breathe-at-night%3C/em%3E%3C/strong%3E%3C/a%3E%3Cstrong class="css-1mrz9mz-Bold">
Missed my latest horror tales? Click below to read it:
==============================================
© Tales That Breathe At Night | "Where Legends Twist Into Nightmares"
Readers beware: The best horrors are the ones you almost believe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If this story lingered in your heart,a cup of kindness is always welcome ☕
Help keep the Horror magic alive: https://ko-fi.com/talesthatbreatheatnight/tiers
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.
Keep reading
More stories from Tales That Breathe at Night and writers in Horror and other communities.
How Bludworth Survived Death?
In Final Destination films, Bludworth (played by Tony Todd) was known to be the "Grim Reaper" and the Coroner of the film series. Bludworth has been an expert on Death giving advice on how to escape from Death that was until the Final Destination: Bloodlines, which would be Todd's final performance, Todd's character William John Bludworth (his full name) actually escaped Death decades ago at the Sky View where he was supposed to die along with his mother who was the singer of the band at the Skyview. During the until Iris who was in her 20s (played by Brec Bassinger) who had a Premonition that everyone is going to die on the Skyview, she stops the performance just to saving everyones lives including Bludworth. In the Final Destination: Bloodlines, Iris (played by Gabrielle Rose) now at old age, dying of cancer in hiding away from had two grown children who have their own children. One of their children, Stefani (played by Kaitlyn Santa Juana) had the same premonition met with Iris. Iris was living in a gated solitary home away from the outside world. Iris gives Stefani a book that shows who will die next and information on what happened after the SkyView to save their family before accepting Death's fate. After her death, Iris's son (played by Alex Zahara) dies next and Stefani's cousin (played by Anna Lore) which made Stefani get depth with Grandma Iris's book.
By Gladys W. Muturia day ago in Horror
Let's Don't Do This
"I just can't do this anymore..." "Do what?" What can't you do? Put gas in your own car? I swear to God you make me take care of everything, don't you? You know I'm on my way to work right now but that never stops you from bothering me, does it?"
By Shirley Belk6 days ago in Fiction
Comments (2)
The way you mix body horror, supernatural signals, and psychological tension is masterful. Season 5 has me completely hooked!
Wow, this was intense! The visuals and pacing were amazing, and that twist at the end was just chef’s kiss.