ing for barely a second before it was swallowed

but a hallucination. Every single heart hammered against its cage of ribs. Icy rain

, his teeth chattering. "Th-that sound... it wa

lipped through the photos she'd just snapped. "Nothing inside the hous

nto dark, rust-red puddles at the foundation. The open front door gaped like a black hole, pouring

eerily calm. He jerked his chin toward the d

, they heard it: low, inhuman growls, and the sharp crack of snapping branches. The sounds were gettin

group. "There's something in those woods, and our objective is inside. We go in

gripping it like a weapon. "Eli's right. The only way we finish th

t but unshakable. "I'm with you. I'll d

nister mansion, finally grinding his teeth and nodding hard. He snatched

ok the first step toward the mansion's open maw. Icy blood rain hit his face, thick w

igh ceiling holding a shattered crystal chandelier caked in dust and cobwebs. It swayed in the draft with a high, creaking whine. The red

old, depicting a family of four. Eli's gaze locked on the painting, and his stomach dropped-every single person in th

y stood, those holl

r his mouth, unable to look any longer,

t second, Eli's pupils blew wide-he saw it, clear as day: the little girl in

rtrait was exactly as it had been. No smile,

gh the silence from the left side of the f

dy of a young girl, her limbs splayed in a crude cross, her neck twisted at an impossible angle. Her ey

tered the Trial with them. She'd sat right next to hi

e never

clenched in her hand, stained black with

avy. "Been dead at least ten minutes. Cause of death is massive trauma and exsanguination. These nails wer

ts. When she glanced down at the screen, her face draine

i grabbed her ar

out to him, her voi

the wall, but looming behind her was a tall, indistinct black shadow. It had no head

very single one. And with each shot, it was moving forw

staring at the wall behind Megan's body. It w

heard it: a soft

oots had taken a single

ir heads toward the wooden stairs. The steps were black with rot

thud..

y one. But the staircase stayed empty. The sound echoed right in their

pressing himself flat against the wall,

ned to the steps. And he saw it: a bright red, bl

econd. The

rom the second floor, each one accompanied by the soft, sickening

eah's voice shook. The photos she'd taken of the st

t his ribs. They'd just tri

s front door slammed ope

, all of them soaked to the bone. Their faces were twisted with pa

" Kane spat a mouthful of blood-flecked saliva, his voic

his face before it hardened back into rage. When he spotted the loaves of bread and

epped right up to Eli, towering over him. "Or

n at once, daggers draw

Eli, and Irene clutched

ane, his voice flat. "I can't do that. This

e!" Kane roared, lunging f

"You forgot the rule. No intentional killing of fellow partici

age, then pale-he remembered. He'd seen the brute in the c

und his teeth, his voice a vicious

e." Eli held his gaze, every word sharp and unyielding. "That's

dog about to snap. Eli didn't flinch. Finally, Ka

en we find that will, half the credits are mine. Or I'll make

e that picking a fight now would only make

i. "Me and my boys take the second floor. You take the first. You find anything

lked toward the stairs, Tuck

. His eyes locked on the dozens of fresh, d

id these come fro

e you came i

lly onto the first step, and started up. Tucker and Rex fol

fell sil

too. Rule number one: no one goes anywhere alo

d, and Junior glued

n, dining room, study, and a cluttered storage closet. Ever

cked inside a rotting oak cabinet. The cover was worn, wit

ld the story of the horrors in the mansion, and the insa

smudged writing, as if written through tears:

tomach

e from the foyer, high and shrill with unhinged ter

rene sprinted ba

as he pointed at the massive floor-to-ceiling mirror i

his gaze, and their

d in the center of the hall, holding a ragged doll

tside the mirror, the sp

as no o