a person standing in a dark room with a flashlight

The Silent RoomEthan didn’t believe in ghosts. When his friends dared him to spend the night at Ashwood Manor, he accepted with a smirk. The house was ancient, its windows like hollow eyes in the moonlight.Inside, the silence was heavy, broken only by his footsteps. Around midnight, Ethan heard soft, deliberate steps upstairs. He froze, flashlight trembling. "Hello?" he called, but the house swallowed his voice.Curiosity won over fear. He climbed the stairs, following the sound to a door at the end of the hall. Behind it, faint knocking. He pushed it open.The room was empty, save for a cracked mirror. He turned to leave, but froze as the flashlight beam caught something in the reflection: a pale woman with hollow eyes standing behind him. He spun around. Nothing.The mirror shattered, and whispers filled the air. Hands clawed out from under the bed, gray and bony. The woman reappeared, her jaw unhinging as black sludge poured out. The floor cracked beneath him, a void yawning open.Ethan bolted. The front door