Part 1: Chapter 17

Steven was on the phone with his mother when he heard doors rattling. He figured it was just the kids playing. Eventually though, Lydia told him it wasn’t them; the boys were sleeping and she was reading. The screams and the loud boom started again, getting louder and louder. Steven was still on the phone with his mother who could hear all the commotion from the phone. Steven frantically screamed for her help. He hung up the phone and tried to get out of the house. The boys were already out but Lydia was in a state of shock; she wouldn’t move. They eventually go out of the house, backed up the car to the top of the hill and watched their house flicker and the black figure move from room to room.

“Then, as before, the doors rattled harder, but this time before I could say anything, Lydia’s scared voice cut me off. ‘Daddy, that’s not us. I’m reading and the boys are sleep.’”

“Whatever was in the house was searching for us. We could see its blackness move from room to room, searching carefully, methodically. Oh my God, I realized. It was looking for us.”