The sun had set.
Once again, the air turned heavy, charged with the same ominous weight they now recognized all too well.
They each retreated to their chosen hiding spots. Locked inside darkness. Alone. Listening.
Joseph sat in the pantry, his breathing shallow. Then the twitch came.
7:11 P.M.
His spine bent backward unnaturally. His eyes rolled white, then burned red.
A sound like bone cracking.
He punched the door.
Bang.
Again.
The door creaked open.
Joseph stepped into the hall, holding the axe that had been hidden behind the kitchen counter.
Mindy was inside the old wardrobe upstairs. She couldn't see much through the tiny circular knot in the wood. But she heard something outside.
Footsteps.
Dragging.
Breathing.
She leaned forward to peer through the tiny hole—just barely.
A shadow passed.
Then a face.
Joseph's face.
Possessed. Staring directly into the hole.
Her blood turned to ice.
She gasped—but no sound escaped. She slapped her hands over her mouth, eyes wide.
Joseph's lips curled into an unnatural grin.
Then he lifted the axe.
THUNK.
It struck the wood above her.
THUNK.
This time, it pierced through. A sliver of daylight streaked through the hole.
Mindy whimpered silently.
The axe fell again.
This time, it went too deep.
The blade struck her skull with a sickening crack. Blood painted the inside of the cabinet. Her body slumped against the door as the axe was pulled free.
Karrie was inside the storm shelter.
She heard it. The thuds. The wet smack. The dragging sound.
Then silence.
She peeked through the vent.
Joseph was walking down the hall, blood dripping from the blade.
"Mindy?" she whispered. "No, no, no…"
She pushed the hatch open, crawled out.
Then she saw the body.
She froze.
Joseph turned.
Their eyes met.
She ran.
"COME BACK," he growled, his voice no longer human.
The axe scraped the floor.
She raced through the corridor, toward the stairs. He followed—faster than she expected.
"KARRIE!" Elli shouted from the attic.
"HELP ME!" Karrie screamed.
Joseph hurled the axe.
It missed her by inches, embedding itself in the doorframe.
Karrie ducked and rolled into the kitchen. Slammed the basement door shut behind her. Locked it.
Joseph's footsteps stopped just outside.
Silence again.
She trembled in the dark.
Then—
A single knock.
Followed by laughter.
Cold, awful laughter.
She backed away into the shadows.
Night wasn't over yet.
Karrie ran down the basement steps, skipping the last few in a panicked leap. Her foot caught the edge of the final stair, and she crashed hard against the floor, skidding into a pile of old blankets and crates.
Above her, the door rattled.
Then the axe hit it.
BANG.
BANG.
"OPEN IT," the voice behind the door growled. Joseph—but not Joseph. Something darker. Hungrier.
Karrie scrambled backward, searching the dim space.
No exits.
No windows.
Only dust and rot and the sound of her own whimpering breath.
Upstairs, Elli heard it all. She'd been watching from the attic hatch, trying not to scream. She pulled the rope ladder down and raced across the landing, feet barely touching the wood.
"Derreck!" she hissed.
His cabinet was still locked.
She kicked it once. "Derreck!"
It creaked open. He stumbled out, dazed but clear-eyed.
"You're okay," she said, grabbing his arm. "Come on—Karrie's trapped!"
"Where?"
"Basement. Joseph's—he's gone full demon. Axe and everything."
Without a word, Derreck ran. They bolted through the hall together, past Mindy's shattered wardrobe and the bloody streaks on the wall.
Elli almost slipped.
Downstairs, Karrie cried out as the door began to crack. A blade came through, splintering wood like paper.
"KARRIE!"
Elli's voice. Faint.
Karrie backed into the farthest corner of the room. She saw a crowbar beside the heater.
She lunged for it.
The axe burst through the last plank of the door.
Then, from above—
CRASH.
The hallway mirror shattered as Derreck smashed it over Joseph's head.
Joseph turned, stunned. A crack ran down the side of his face like porcelain.
He didn't bleed.
He roared instead.
Derreck tackled him. They fell together into the kitchen, crashing into the island. Elli ran to Karrie, yanked the door open, and pulled her out.
"You're okay, you're okay—"
"No I'm not," Karrie sobbed, gripping her arm where she'd landed hard. "He killed her. Mindy. He was smiling."
"We'll survive," Elli whispered. "We have to."
Derreck was bleeding again. He'd managed to pin Joseph under a toppled cabinet, but Joseph thrashed like something feral.
"GO!" Derreck shouted.
Elli and Karrie dragged themselves back up the stairs. Behind them, Joseph let out a howl that shook the whole house.
They slammed the door behind them and barricaded it with an old bookcase.
Karrie collapsed.
Elli stared at the blood on her hands.
It was 12:38.