The house on third street—chapter five: The monster

“All of the sudden I want to uhh go somewhere else” Max said, putting himself in front of his sister and Payton.

“Whatever’s out there, or… whoever’s out there, say your name!”

The darkness spoke back “I have not a name, but I do know one thing”

Payton pulled Felicity behind them both, “and what’s that!” Payton yelled back hesitantly

“I—am—the end of your fate” it said, elongating the words one after another. “You’re going to stay with me”

Chills went down all of their spines Max turned

“Run… RUN” he said pushing them backwards

It stepped out of the darkness

At first, it didn’t look like much.

Something pale shifted at the edge of the red-lit dark, just enough to catch their attention. A shoulder, maybe. An arm. The shape of a man standing where the light failed to reach, half of him swallowed by shadow.

He stepped forward.

He was tall, but not impossibly so. Thin. Too thin. His skin was white—not sickly, not decayed—just blank, like snow untouched by footprints. It reflected the red glow faintly, smoothing out every sharp edge, every shadow, until he almost looked unfinished.

Human enough.

His head tilted slightly as he looked at them, curious. Calm. His eyes were dark and steady, set too evenly in his face, blinking slowly as if he were studying something fragile. Something new.

That’s it?

No claws. No blood. No twisted limbs.

Just a man standing where he shouldn’t be.

Then he smiled
 

The movement started wrong.

His lips parted wider than they should have, stretching past the edges of his face, skin pulling tight without tearing. His jaw didn’t drop—

it unhinged.

It opened and kept opening, splitting downward in a smooth, silent motion until his mouth was far too large for his head, lined with rows of teeth that weren’t jagged or broken—

they were neat.

Too neat.

They curved inward, sharp and layered like they were meant to keep something from ever getting out.

The red light flooded the inside of his mouth, illuminating the depth of it, the way it went back farther than a throat should. When he breathed, it wasn’t air that moved—

it was heat.

That was when the house went quiet.

And that was when they understood—

the thing in front of them hadn’t been hiding.

It had been waiting.

“What is that” Felicity said, eyes wide, she froze.

“City, come on” Payton said trying to move her, though it was impossible.  
Her feet were rooted it place.

Max stopped dead, in front of her “Felicity— this is a bad place to freeze!” He said guarding her

“City, move!” Payton said grabbing her arm