The shadows merged and spat a wad of darkness into the room. Sam scrabbled backwards across the floor, cursing as her back hit the wall. Throwing frantic glances in all directions, her eyes searched for a weapon as she tried to avoid eye contact with the thing. Advancing toward her, its sizzling footprints scorched the bare wooden boards. Unable to stop herself, she met its fiery gaze, seeing nothing but total apathy in the depths of the burning eyes.

“Samantha Rose Peterson”.

Its voice sounded like a roaring inferno. She screamed, pressing her hands against her ears. It repeated her name, intoning her fate slowly. She leapt to her feet, throwing herself across the room in a bid to escape the creature’s outstretched talons. Childish instincts took over, and Sam crawled behind her free-standing mirror for shelter.

An ear-splitting screech rocked the room. The smell of sulphur wafted around the mirror as the electric light flicked on. Sam gingerly peered into the room.

It was empty, except for a pair of smoking footprints.

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