The last boxes were unloaded, and the car's engine finally silenced, plunging the new street into an eerie quiet. Alice, with her younger brother Jacob, was huddled in the back seat, told to wait while their parents explored their new home. But the darkness outside beckoned, and a shared glance was all it took.

Without a word, they slipped out of the car, the cool night air prickling their skin. Their destination wasn't the new house, but the mysterious neighborhood beyond. They walked, their footsteps muffled by the quiet street, searching for adventure, perhaps even new friends.

Then, they passed it: a house unlike any other, shrouded in impenetrable darkness, yet humming with unseen voices. Alice shivered, but Jacob, ever bold, kept running. A sudden chill, a sense of being watched, made Alice turn. In the garden of that strange house, a figure stood, silhouetted against the dim light, watching. Her heart hammered.