I had expected noise, celebration, and a grand reception awaiting us after the extravagant wedding announcement. Instead, when we arrived, I was met with nothing.

No guests. No music. No feast.

The mansion loomed over me, its gothic architecture more haunting than welcoming. I stared out the window, expecting to see servants bustling around, setting up the festivities but the courtyard was empty!

I swallowed, my fingers clenching the fabric of my gown.

Where was everyone?

The doors swung open before I could ask, and he stepped out first. He didn’t look at me as he made his way up the grand staircase, his long coat billowing behind him. I hesitated for a moment before following.

Inside, the mansion was just as silent. The walls were lined with ancient paintings, their eyes seeming to follow me as I walked through the dimly lit halls.

The grand dining hall was ahead. My heart picked up. Maybe they’re waiting inside?

But when I stepped past the heavy double doors, my breath hitched.

The long dining table was empty. No food. No candles. No guests.

Just silence.

I turned to him, confusion swirling in my chest.

“I thought there was going to be a feast?”

“I never said that.”

I blinked.

“Go to your room,” he ordered.

That was it? No explanation? No acknowledgment that this whole situation was strange?

I opened my mouth to argue, but the look he shot me made my blood freeze. There was something dangerous lurking beneath his calm facade, something I didn’t understand.

So, without another word, I let the servants lead me away.

The room they placed me in was grand, almost too grand. The bed was massive, draped in velvet. A fireplace crackled softly, but it did little to warm the icy pit growing in my stomach.

I was alone.

For hours.

No one came.

No maids to help me change. No one told me what I was supposed to do. The silence stretched on, pressing against my ears, making my thoughts feel too loud.

I paced the room, my gown dragging behind me. Was this some kind of test?

I had been married today, taken from my home, thrown into this eerie mansion—and then… abandoned?

With nothing else to do, I tried the door. Locked.

My pulse spiked. Why would they lock me in?

I knocked. Then pounded.

“Hello?”

No answer.

I backed away, glancing around the room. My suitcase was placed neatly by the closet, but I had no urge to change out of my wedding dress. It felt ridiculous, being left in a gown meant for celebration while trapped in a room with no one to celebrate with.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the flickering flames in the fireplace.

What now?

Minutes stretched into hours. The mansion remained quiet, the occasional howl of the wind outside the only thing reminding me that the world still existed beyond these walls.

I tried not to think about him.

Or the way he had looked at me before dismissing me.

Or the way my skin still tingled from his touch.

Then, just as my eyelids grew heavy, just as exhaustion threatened to pull me under—

A sound.

A soft click of the door unlocking.

I shot up, my heart hammering.

The door creaked open slowly, revealing nothing but darkness beyond it.

Someone had unlocked it.

But no one was there.

A shiver crawled up my spine.

And then, from deep within the mansion—

A howl.

Low. Menacing.

And far too close.

The howl echoed through the silent halls, stretching into a haunting note that made the hair on my arms rise. My breath hitched, my body freezing in place as if moving would somehow make me a target.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

What was that?

I wanted to call out, to demand an explanation, but my throat tightened.

I was alone.

Abandoned.

The realization settled deep in my bones. They had locked me in this room for hours, left me with nothing but silence, and now… now the door was open, and something was out there.

My mind spun with questions, none of them comforting. Had he done this on purpose? Was this some twisted game? A test? Or had I truly been forgotten, left to fend for myself in a house filled with secrets I didn’t understand?

Another howl. This time, closer.

My stomach twisted. My hands clutched the fabric of my gown, my knuckles turning white. I didn’t belong here. I wasn’t meant for this world, for the dark unknown that lurked within these walls.

I had been raised in a normal home. Not a mansion where my husband—my husband—left me alone on our wedding night without so much as an explanation.

My breath shuddered.

I didn’t want to step into the hallway.

But I couldn’t stay here either.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced myself to move. Each step toward the open door felt like walking into a nightmare. My pulse pounded in my ears, my legs trembling beneath me as I peered into the darkness.

Nothing.

Only an endless hallway, stretching into shadows, flickering candlelight barely illuminating the stone walls.

I bit my lip hard, the pain grounding me.

What if I go looking for someone and find something else instead?

A creak.

Not from me.

From down the hall.

I sucked in a sharp breath, my body locking up. Footsteps. Slow, measured, deliberate.

Someone—or something—was out there.

Panic clawed at my throat. I backed up, bumping against the bedpost. My legs threatened to give out, the weight of fear crushing my chest.

I wanted to scream for my husband, to demand answers, but deep down, I knew—he wasn’t coming for me.

No one was.

I was alone in this house.

And whatever was in the hallway…

It knew that too.

The footsteps stopped.

I held my breath, my body rigid with terror. The silence that followed was somehow worse than the sound. It stretched long and suffocating, pressing in on me like unseen hands wrapping around my throat.

Then—tap… tap… tap…

A slow, deliberate knock on the door.

I jolted back, my pulse hammering against my ribs. My eyes locked onto the dark hallway beyond the threshold. The door had been open just moments ago, hadn’t it? But now…

It was nearly closed.

No breeze had moved it. No one had walked past.

And yet, something—or someone—was on the other side.

Tap… tap… tap…

The knocks were soft but insistent, as if they were testing my reaction, waiting for me to respond.

I pressed a hand over my mouth to stifle a shaky breath. My heart raced so violently that I felt lightheaded.

“H-Husband?” My voice came out in a whisper, barely audible.

No answer.

My fingers trembled as I reached for the edge of the door, hesitating. Every nerve in my body screamed at me not to do it, not to let curiosity be my downfall.

What if it isn’t him?

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment, willing myself to calm down. But when I opened them again—

The door creaked open on its own.

And then… I saw it.

A figure.

Tall. Unmoving. Just beyond the doorway.

Its presence sent ice through my veins, but I couldn’t make out its features—just a silhouette, standing there, watching me.

I wanted to scream, to slam the door shut, but I was frozen in place, unable to move, unable to breathe.

Then—

It stepped forward.

And the last thing I saw before the darkness swallowed me whole—

Was a pair of glowing, inhuman eyes.