Chapter 4 - THE FIRST DEATHNobody spoke.
Adrian entered the house without waiting for permission.
He moved through the hallway as though he owned it.
Maybe he did.
David blocked his path.
“You're not taking anything.”
Adrian smiled.
“Everything has already been taken.”
“What does that mean?”
“You'll learn.”
Stella stood behind David.
“Please.”
Adrian looked at her.
“You knew the terms.”
“I didn't know about them.”
“You never asked.”
“I was desperate.”
“We all are.”
His smile vanished.
“But desperation doesn't cancel a contract.”
Linda appeared at the top of the stairs.
When she saw Adrian, she stopped.
“You.”
Adrian bowed slightly.
“Mrs. Carter.”
“You promised me.”
“I promised your husband.”
“He's dead.”
“Yes.”
“And the debt died with him.”
“No.”
Adrian glanced at David.
“It multiplied.”
The house fell silent.
That evening, Adrian left.
But before he did, he placed a small black envelope on the dining table.
“Open it at midnight.”
David threw it into the fireplace.
The fire went out.
The envelope remained untouched.
At 11:59, David stood over it.
Stella begged him not to open it.
He did.
Inside was a list.
Seven names.
Beside each name was a date.
The first name belonged to Mr. Hale.
He had disappeared one month earlier.
The second belonged to a woman David had never heard of.
The third...
was Linda.
David looked at the date.
Tonight.
“No.”
He ran upstairs.
His mother was asleep.
Or appeared to be.
“Mom.”
No response.
He shook her shoulder.
Her eyes opened.
But they were completely black.
David stumbled backward.
Linda sat up.
Her mouth opened.
A second voice came out.
“Too late.”
The lights exploded.
Glass rained across the room.
Stella screamed.
David rushed forward.
His mother suddenly grabbed him with impossible strength.
Her fingers tightened around his wrist.
Then she collapsed.
Everything went silent.
David knelt beside her.
“Mom?”
Nothing.
He checked her pulse.
Nothing.
Stella screamed.
The clock struck midnight.
At exactly twelve seconds past midnight, Linda's body began to age.
Her skin shriveled.
Her hair turned white.
Her body seemed to decay in seconds.
David watched helplessly.
Then the black bracelet appeared around her wrist.
The same bracelet Stella had been wearing.
David grabbed it.
It burned his hand.
He screamed.
The bracelet fell to the floor.
And the floor beneath it cracked open.
From inside came a whisper.
“Two remain.”
David looked at Stella.
Her bracelet tightened.
She fell to her knees.
“David...”
“What?”
“I can hear them.”
“Hear who?”
She looked toward the basement door.
“The dead.”
The door slowly opened by itself.
Darkness waited below.
Then came another whisper.
This time unmistakably human.
“David.”
May you like
He froze.
The voice was his father's.
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