The howling winds escalated into a shrieking tempest, assaulting the sturdy tower as if demanding entry. Looking desperately for anchors against the chaos, the companions clustered close by the fire's guttering light.
Even Liam's eyes betrayed tension as he cast frequent glances to the windows, where sheets of rain blurred all view into a broiling abyss. Darkness churned a maelstrom just beyond the thin panes of glass. They sensed the storm's cacophony rattling the very bones of the ancient lighthouse.
As the hours stretched into an endless twilight, no light penetrated the thrashing gloom. Isolation weighed heavy as a shroud, whispers resounding in each mind and no escape in sight. Strange visions flickered at the edge of sight—pale hands drifting through the fog beyond the glass, mournful eyes peering from within the raging waves.
When black dizziness took hold, Emily alone seemed untroubled, speaking gentle comforts in a voice too knowing for her young years. Yet even her gaze would drift and lips shape unheard words, perceiving a realm beyond reach of living eyes.
As night consumed the world without, fragmenting voices swelled from stones long steeped in memory. Dreams surfaced to taunt waking minds, slipping ghostly hands from the mists within. Faces peered through clinging shrouds of moss and dust, lips moving in a litany unrestful bones could no longer contain.
Worst were the cracks echoing up to shake the very lantern, booming as if the wild sea strove to invade these haunted halls where mystery bred in darkness' womb. They sensed shadows swelling in each nook and cranny, souls long quenched shrieking at every blast of wind. Light itself began to waver and dim as if fearing the depths it dared to pierce.
When dawn refused to break this endless twilight, fear itself became a living presence, tormenting minds upon the razored edge of sanity. Without anchors in a material world drowned in the deluge, was this place consuming their souls piece by piece? Cut off as flotsam in a raging ocean of shadows, how long could reason hold firm against the tide?
Salvation seemed a distant memory lost amid the howling. As another night clawed its way inside their souls, all they could do was cling to the hope that dawn, and deliverance, would come...before the darkness swallowed them forever in its fathomless deep.
YOU ARE READING
The Haunted Lighthouse
Mystery / ThrillerAs a violent storm approaches, a group of individuals seek refuge within the lighthouse's walls, oblivious to the dark history that haunts this isolated structure. Little do they know that the lighthouse holds a malevolent power, capable of manipula...
