Chapter 1: Phantom Shadows I

　　“Grace...”

　　“Grace...”

　 A faint whisper woke the little girl on the bed from her sleep.

　 It was a dark, deep night.

　 In a small square bedroom, a little girl with long black hair was sleeping on a yellow wooden bed.

　 A grayish-white quilt covered her up to her shoulders, faintly revealing the washed-out lotus lace of her nightgown.

　 The little girl looked about seven or eight years old, with delicate features, a slightly high nose bridge, and two red pimples on her chin. She seemed to be just at the age of beginning to understand the world.

　 Hearing the voice, she slowly opened her eyes from her dream, sat up, and looked around.

　 The room was pitch black, with only a faint bit of moonlight filtering in from the window, dimly illuminating the foot of the bed.

　 At the foot of the bed.

　 There.

　 A black figure was standing.

　 The upper body of the figure was shrouded in darkness, the face blurred and indistinct.

　 But she could feel that the figure was quietly watching her.

　 “Mom?”

　 The little girl cautiously spoke, asking.

　 She gripped the quilt tightly with both hands, her expression tense, sensing that something was wrong.

　 All around was silent, only her voice sounded especially harsh and striking, echoing slightly in the room.

　 “Remember... Grace, no matter what sounds you hear, you must hide in the secret chamber. Don’t come out until the white stone turns black...”

　 The figure spoke softly.

　 “Whatever you do...”

　 “Don’t come out.”

　 After speaking, she slowly turned around and, step by step, silently walked toward the door.

The wooden door opened without a sound. Outside was a patch of darkness, as if welcoming her. Very soon, it swallowed her completely.

“Mom!!” The little girl seemed to sense something, suddenly threw off the quilt, and got up to chase after her.

Bang!!!

A loud crash, accompanied by a violent tremor, suddenly exploded in her ears.

Hiss!!!

The little girl’s eyes flew open. She arched her chest up from the bed, taking a deep breath.

It had all just been a dream.

Her eyes were wide with fear, pupils dilated, her mind slowly clearing from the groggy dream.

Bang!!

Another loud crash.

The whole room seemed to shake and tremble.

The wooden door shuddered violently, with one heavy blow after another, as if a giant beast was furiously ramming it from outside.

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

The massive impacts seemed about to smash the wooden door to pieces.

Fine cracks began to slowly appear and spread across the surface of the door.

The little girl snapped back to her senses, recalling the voice she’d heard in her dream.

“Mom...” For some reason, her eyes instantly filled with tears, a pain rising in her heart that she couldn’t describe.

But hearing the loud crashes and remembering the words from before, she quickly threw off the quilt, jumped down from the bed, and glanced at the door.

Creak!

The wooden door suddenly broke open, a chunk splintering inward, shattered wood chips flying onto the brown dirt floor.

The little girl’s hair stood on end, her heart pounding wildly, her face pale. She quickly bent down and crawled under the bed.

Under the bed, she crawled a bit and found a hidden black mud board. Grabbing the pull ring, she struggled to lift it up.

Beneath the mud board was a small square space, just big enough for her to curl up in.

Inside, the four walls were inlaid with white stones of various sizes.

These stones were all different shapes, but they had one thing in common: each was carved with a complex red symbol on its surface.

The little girl quickly crawled in, closed the mud board over her head, and, surrounded by darkness, curled up tightly in the small space, trembling as she listened to the sounds outside.

Strangely, after she hid inside, the banging outside stopped completely.

It was as if everything she’d heard before was just an illusion.

Silence.

Not a sound.

All around, only her own breathing could be heard.

The little girl covered her mouth tightly, afraid her breathing would be too loud and the thing outside would find her.

The exhaustion brought on by overwhelming fear and tension slowly crept over her small body.

As time passed.

Gradually, the girl drifted off to sleep.

She didn’t know how much time had passed.

An hour, or maybe two.

“Grace...” A familiar voice called, waking the little girl from her sleep.

She shifted her body, as if trying to curl up more comfortably.

“Grace?”

“Grace, where are you? Mommy’s back.”

The voice from outside came again, faint but familiar.

The fear in the little girl’s heart seemed to have lessened a lot after her nap.

Hearing the voice, she quickly moved, wanting to go out.

But suddenly she remembered something. She glanced at the white stones inlaid in the wall. In the faint light coming through the mud board’s air hole, she saw that they hadn’t turned black.