The Whisper in the Dark

Chapter One: The Attic

When the room went dark, she heard her name.

At first, it was little more than a whisper, soft and uncertain, like a draught slipping through a crack in an old window. Then it came again, clearer this time, curling through the darkness like breath against her ear. “Emily.”

Her heart gave a sharp thud. She had been alone for hours, sitting in the attic with only the glow of her desk lamp and the steady ticking of the clock below. The power had gone suddenly, plunging her into a darkness so thick it seemed to move around her. She held her breath and listened.