Chapter 3 - The Previous Owner
I slammed the plywood shut.
My breathing became uncontrollable.
Every logical explanation disappeared the moment I heard those words.
I practically stumbled back across the attic and climbed down the ladder.
Rick immediately ran to me, pressing his body against my legs.
He wasn't protecting himself.
He was protecting me.
That realization made everything even worse.
I locked every window.
Every door.
Then I searched the internet for information about the property.
The listing had mentioned only one previous owner.
An elderly widower named Harold Bennett.
According to public records, he had lived alone for thirty-two years before disappearing.
Disappearing.
Not dying.
Not moving.
Simply listed as missing.
The police investigation had never produced answers.
His house had remained empty for nearly five years before being renovated and sold.
I frowned.
That wasn't what my realtor had told me.
She said the previous owner had passed away peacefully.
Someone had lied.
The deeper I searched, the stranger the story became.
An archived newspaper mentioned repeated reports from neighbors.
Lights inside the attic at three in the morning.
Voices coming through air vents.
Dogs refusing to enter the kitchen.
Children claiming someone watched them through tiny holes in bedroom walls.
Every complaint had been dismissed.
No evidence.
No arrests.
Just rumors.
Then I found a scanned blueprint of the original house.
My stomach tightened.
The ventilation system on the blueprint didn't match my house.
Entire sections had been added later.
Secret crawlspaces connected almost every room.
They weren't part of the official construction plans.
Someone had built them afterward.
Quietly.
Deliberately.
Rick suddenly rushed toward the hallway.
He growled at the ceiling above the living room.
Not the kitchen anymore.
Whatever had been moving...
was changing locations.
A dull thump echoed overhead.
Another followed.
Slow.
Measured.
Like footsteps.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown Number.
No caller ID.
One new message.
May you like
Only a single sentence.
"He knows you're reading about the house."
