Chapter 3: The Girl Who Waited
Hook: Not every presence is visible — some linger in silence, waiting.
Nero growled, circling the room. His paws scratched at the linoleum, yet his eyes stayed fixed on the corner. And then, a shadow appeared — fleeting, almost human, barely a silhouette against the cracked wall.
Reyes froze. “Who’s there?” His voice cracked. The shadow tilted its head, as if studying him. Then, a voice, barely a whisper: “Help me.”
The temperature dropped suddenly. Breath turned to mist. The whispers became coherent, layered — a chorus of suffering that pressed against Reyes’s mind. Nero barked relentlessly, lunging at the wall, refusing to let the spirit slip further into hiding.
Reyes’s eyes caught a small, cracked locket on the floor. Inside was a faded photograph of Anna — the very girl from the files. He felt a pang of sorrow that had nothing to do with him, yet rooted him in an inexplicable grief.
Cliffhanger: A hand, pale and ethereal, pressed against the wall from inside the hidden cavity… and Nero yelped, retreating as the room went black.
