The old manor stood at the edge of town, its windows like hollow eyes staring into the darkness. Sarah had always been told never to enter, but curiosity is a cruel master.
She pushed open the creaking door. Inside, the air was thick with decay. Portraits lined the walls, their subjects' eyes seeming to follow her every move. A child's laughter echoed from somewhere above.
As she climbed the stairs, each step groaned beneath her weight. The laughter grew louder, more frantic. At the top, a door stood ajar, revealing a nursery frozen in time. A rocking chair moved on its own, back and forth, back and forth.
"Play with me," whispered a voice behind her. Sarah spun around to see a little girl in a tattered dress, her face pale as moonlight, her eyes black as coal. "You're the first visitor in so long. Please... stay forever."
Sarah ran. She ran down the stairs, through the hallway, toward the door. But the manor had other plans. The door was gone. The windows were gone. There was only darkness now, and the sound of that terrible laughter, growing closer, closer, closer...