The Haunted House

Previously

…Noah’s eyes met his, and for the first time, Liam saw a flicker of something genuine in their depths. Not fear, but a cold, hard pragmatism. "Insurance," he said, his voice quiet, but carrying a chilling finality. "You might have banished it, Liam. But I made sure it left something of itself behind. Something I can control." A shiver, independent of the cold, traced its way down Liam’s spine. He had protected his friends, he had fought the darkness. But as he looked at Noah, at the glint in his eyes, he couldn't shake the feeling that the battle, for all of them, was far from over. The house was silent, but the silence itself felt pregnant with a new, insidious kind of dread.