Paranormal investigator Evelyn Graves had seen the unspeakable. Over the years, she had walked through the cold halls of abandoned hospitals, traced the outlines of pentagrams carved into cellar floors, and listened to whispers that didn’t come from human lips. People called her fearless, the kind of investigator who never backed down. But Evelyn carried her own ghosts—burdens she’d buried deep beneath layers of professionalism. She wasn’t afraid of the dead. It was the living and the memories they left behind that truly terrified her.

When the letter arrived, scrawled in shaky handwriting, Evelyn didn’t hesitate. The sender, a desperate widow named Clara Marks, begged for help. Her husband, Thomas, had disappeared months ago after becoming obsessed with a decrepit mansion in the remote town of Ash Hollow. Clara had tried to follow him but was turned back by an overwhelming sense of dread. She claimed the house “reached inside her mind,” dragging her deepest fears to the surface.

The case intrigued Evelyn. She had dealt with haunted houses before, but Clara’s description felt disturbingly personal. Still, Evelyn packed her gear—EMF detectors, cameras, digital recorders, and a notebook—and set off for the house alone. She preferred it that way. Companions only complicated things, especially when the investigations veered into the dangerous unknown.

The Marks Estate sat on the outskirts of a sprawling forest, its crumbling façade barely visible through gnarled trees. The air smelled of damp earth and decay, and a suffocating silence blanketed the area. As Evelyn approached, she felt a faint pressure in her chest—a familiar sensation that told her the house wasn’t just abandoned. It was alive.

The door creaked open on its own,...