Chapter 79

  The soothing and relaxing piano sounded from the study and flowed into the dim corridor.

The    melody lasted for a few seconds, then came to an abrupt end, and the sound of the keys reverberated. McPherson turned his head, somewhat startled. "What's wrong...?" Doreen appeared at the door, the coffee in her hand steaming.

  Macpherson saw that it was his wife, and exhaled slightly: "It may be because I just moved to a new home, and it's very unfamiliar here. I always think about something... Rest early and start work tomorrow morning."

  Doreen walked into the study and put the coffee on the table: "But I've already made the coffee."

   "Waking up tomorrow morning and drinking again will just make me refreshed." McPherson dropped the lid of the piano, sorted out a few scraps he had written, and threw them into the trash.

  Doreen paused on the trash can and talked about other topics: "Speaking of what happened to the neighbors, I just went downstairs to sort out the **** in the yard and heard them talking about it."

   "Said what? A great artist as their neighbor?" McPherson chuckled self-deprecatingly.

  Doreen frowned worriedly: "I can't hear clearly, but the expressions on their faces seem to be afraid of this...this house..."

   "Maybe they're afraid of life. You know, we're outsiders, and it's normal for locals to be afraid." McPherson didn't care much.

"Can……"

   McPherson pulled his wife, who was still trying to say something, to sit on his lap, wrapped his arms around her waist and said softly, "I know you still have complaints, but it's not bad for tens of thousands to buy such a big house, right?"

  Doreen broke away angrily, got up and walked to the door: "I'm going to bed first, and I'll get up early tomorrow to find a nearby college for Beth."

"Wait for me."

   McPherson covered the coffee with a piece of kraft paper to prevent dust from falling, and picked up the oil lamp in the piano room and chased it out.

  .

  The door was closed, and the piano room behind him fell into darkness.

   Back in the bedroom, the couple saw their daughter in pajamas playing with Jack.

   "It's time for you to go to bed." Doreen akimbo, walked into the room and picked up her daughter.

  Jack wanted to jump up and play with the little master, but Doreen tapped him on the head, so he had to hang his tail and follow the family of three, and followed them to the bedroom at the end of the corridor.

   took her daughter to the bed, covered the quilt, touched Beth's forehead with her lips, and left an oil lamp on the bedside. The couple retreated to the door, said good night, and closed the door.

   The darkened room was pleasing to the eye, and a thin human-shaped silhouette suddenly appeared on the ceiling above the bed.

"ah--!"

   Beth's eyes widened and she screamed in horror.

  The unclosed door was pushed open, and the lights came on. The couple was stunned to see their daughter pointing at the ceiling and crying: "There is someone on the ceiling!"

  The couple heard that their hair was standing on end, and they looked up subconsciously, but there was nothing other than the ceiling and the dark gap.

   looked at each other helplessly, Doreen went to the bed to comfort him for a while, then called the golden retriever over and hugged him to the bed, "Jack is with you, aren't you afraid?"

   "Hmm..." Beth nodded timidly, grabbing the edge of the quilt with her little hand.

  Doreen let out a long sigh of relief and stepped back to the door: "Don't scare us anymore."

  Click.

   The two left the room.

   As the door closed, the last light in the hallway disappeared.

   "Woo..."

   Beth dreaded indenting the quilt.

  The sound of footsteps outside the door gradually moved away, and the golden retriever lay beside him, pressing down on the quilt.

  Accompanied by Jack, Beth took courage and quietly stuck out her little head, staring at the dimly lit room with her dark eyes, blinking and blinking.

   "There's no way Beth really saw anything..."

   On the way back to the room, Doreen muttered softly.

   Macpherson yawned and said, "Maybe it's the rat in the attic. I'll check it out tomorrow morning."

   "Huh? The wallpaper is broken."

  Doreen stopped, frowning to see a gap in the wallpaper, revealing the grey wood behind it.

The    breach was right next to the daughter's bedroom, but I didn't notice it when I moved in.

   McPherson gently pushed his wife forward, and said helplessly: "It's okay, if you think the wallpaper is not good-looking, we'll buy a new one tomorrow."

   "No, we have no source of income..."

  The two returned to their bedroom, changed into pajamas, and went to bed early. They were a little tired after a busy day of moving.

Snapped.

   McPherson dimmed the kerosene lamp on the bedside table.

   The moment the room was darkened, a dry humanoid silhouette flashed across the ceiling.

  …

  Jack suddenly raised his head and looked at the ceiling.

   Beth beside it was sleeping soundly, lying on her side, holding the soft golden retriever in a small hand.

   Jack raised his head and moved slowly as if he saw something, as if he was following something on the ceiling.

   "Woo..."

  Jack let out a low whimper, suddenly got up, lowered his tail and jumped out of bed, running to the door.

  It stood upright, claws on the handle, and easily pressed the doorknob down.

  patta——

  The door opened a gap.

  Jack opened the door with his head and slipped out.

  The dark corridor was silent, and the paws were stomping on the wooden boards, and it didn't travel too far.

  Jack slid to the crack not far from the door, and snarled vigilantly at the broken wallpaper as he did during the day.

   There was something going on in the darkness, a swarthy arm that seemed to stick out of the wall a little bit, with dry fingers grabbing at Jack.

   "Ugh...!"

   Jack's ears drooped, his tail tucked in, and he whimpered threateningly.

   The arm remained indifferent, still reaching for Jack.

  It cracked the corners of its mouth to the base of the ear, and then suddenly attacked the jet-black arm.

  da——

   With a crisp sound of teeth clasping together, Jack went straight through the dry palm and took a bite.

  Jack was stunned, and at the same time, that thin, dark arm that could not be touched had touched the back of Jack's neck.

  Click——

   The silhouette in the darkness changed, and Jack's head slumped weakly.

  “Ow—”

  Jack only had time to let out a small, miserable howl, and then there was no sound.

  The silence lasted for a few seconds, and in the darkness, the sound of heavy objects rubbing gradually sounded. A dark shadow on the ground was dragged into the wallpaper a little bit.

   In the bedroom, Beth suddenly frowned in her sleep.

   She seemed to have had a nightmare, raised her head dimly, and called to the door, "Jack?"

   The quilt beside her was still warm, and Jack seemed to have just run away not long ago.

   "Jack? Where are you?"

   The little girl clumsily climbed up in the dark, two small hands stretched out in front of her, and stumbled to the open door.

   "Where are you Jack?"

   Beth stuck out her little head, but there was no light in the dark corridor, and there was no response.

  The corridor was very dark, she was worried and worried about Jack. Looking like he was about to cry, he went back to the bedroom to pick up the oil lamp, hesitantly walked out from behind the door, and walked forward touching the wall.

   Beth was ignorant of the unknown path The torn wallpaper.

  Suddenly, the dark arm that had appeared before protruded from the break and grabbed Beth's slender arm.

   The five- or six-year-old girl barely reacted, and was pulled into the wall by her arm in an instant.

  咣啷——

The    oil lamp fell to the floor, rolled a few times, flickered and went out.

  Everything returns to silence.

   (end of this chapter)