The scream came from deep in the east wing sharp, high,and real.Not a performance.
Rhea turned toward the sound like she'd been slapped. "That was Lexie."
Matt didn't move. Evan had already started down the hall.
"Hey!" Evan called, flashlight swinging as he broke into a jog. "Kyle! Tyler! What the hell's going on?!"
No answer. Just the echo of his own voice bouncing off the peeling walls.
Back in the side room, Lexie was pinned against a rusted cabinet, heart hammering under her gown.
"Okay, not funny anymore," she said, trying to force a laugh.
Kyle stepped forward again, camera still rolling. "Just play along."
Tyler locked the door behind them with a loud click.
Lexie's smile dropped. "Guys?"
"You're the spirit, right?" Kyle said, voice too casual. "Time to do something... scary."
"Scene's changing a little," Tyler added. "More... improv."
Lexie started backing toward the far corner. "You're both out of your minds if you think this is funny. I will scream."
"Go ahead," Kyle said, spreading his arms.
She did.
But right as the sound left her throat, the locked door opened very slowly, a voice that if someone hears it ,is like a knife that is cutting deep inside you.
Then a shape emerged.
They all froze.
It stepped into the room slowly, ducking under the bent doorframe.
Its legs were human-like but absurdly tall and covered in black hair. Its arms dragged behind it,longer than a person should have, fingers scraping gouges into the tile. Its torso was bloated and hung low like a malformed cow, six blackened udders pulsing with some foul liquid.
And above all that,its head.
Two of them.
One was a pale, gaunt human face with hollow eyes that wept constantly, silently. Its mouth never closed. The other, grafted to the side, was a grinning goat's skull, teeth jagged, eyes glowing red, laughing in short bursts that echoed in the room like choked coughing.
Lexie collapsed backward, her voice caught in her throat.
Kyle screamed. Tyler stumbled into the wall, fumbling for the locked door.
"What the hell is that?! WHAT IS THAT?!"
The goat head laughed louder, and the thing moved closer.
Its crying human face looked directly at Lexie.
Then both mouths opened.
The lights went out.
Evan heard it from the hallway. Not the scream this time,something deeper. A wet thump. A scraping.
He stopped.
"Lexie?" he called, softer now. "Tyler? Guys?"
Then he heard something else.
Laughter.
Not Kyle's.
Something sharp. Wrong.
He took one slow step back, then turned and ran.