A Love Across Time

The room plunged into darkness, the faint whisper still echoing in Sophia's ears. Her breath hitched as her pulse thundered in her ears.

"Liam?" she whispered, her voice trembling.

"I'm here," he said, his voice steady despite the eerie atmosphere. He fumbled with the flashlight, shaking it until it flickered back on. The beam of light revealed the small room again, but nothing seemed out of place.

"I swear I heard someone," Sophia murmured, glancing nervously at the shadows.

Liam nodded grimly. "I heard it too."

They exchanged a glance, the unspoken truth passing between them: they were no longer alone.

Sophia's attention returned to the diary on the desk. She flipped through more pages, the entries growing more frantic:

> They watch me constantly. I can feel their presence even when the room is empty. I am not alone in this house, though I wish I were.

Sophia swallowed hard. "She knew. She felt it, too."

"What are we dealing with here?" Liam asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Sophia didn't answer. Instead, she pulled a loose sheet of paper from the desk, its edges yellowed and brittle. It appeared to be a drawing—rough but detailed—of a figure standing by the magnolia tree in the garden. The figure had no face, just a hollow void where its features should have been.

"Eleanor drew this," Sophia said, her voice trembling. "She was terrified."

Liam studied the drawing, his jaw tightening. "If she thought she was being watched, maybe it wasn't just her family keeping her prisoner. What if there was… something else?"

The question hung in the air, unanswered.

A sudden thud from the hallway made them both jump. Liam grabbed Sophia's hand and pulled her toward the door, his flashlight cutting through the darkness.

The hallway was empty, but the air was thick with tension. The faint sound of footsteps echoed ahead, leading them back toward the main wing of the house.

"Stay close," Liam said, his grip on her hand tightening.

They followed the sound to the grand staircase, where the moonlight spilled through the large windows, casting eerie shadows on the floor below. At the bottom of the stairs stood a figure—just a shadow, barely visible in the dim light.

"Hello?" Liam called out, his voice firm.

The figure didn't move, but a soft voice filled the air: Leave her story alone.

Sophia's breath caught in her throat. She stepped forward, but Liam held her back.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice shaking.

The figure dissolved into the shadows, leaving nothing behind. The silence that followed was deafening.

Sophia turned to Liam, her face pale. "This isn't just history, Liam. This is something much darker."

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