i :--

In sleep, they haunted her. Whispers wove a net around Juliet. Waking couldn't break it, only delay it. But fear followed into day, her new constant companion.

i i :--

...until sleep wasn't sleep, and the red ghosts crossed into the waking world.

i i i :--

Juliet cracked – went home, confided in Butler. He confessed, and she remembered. The multitude became one ghost.

One real, hidden ghost.

i v :--

Her eyes always sought it now: the invisible shimmer, the inverse presence, the block of empty space.

Every time, she found it, and her heart raced.

v :--

Eventually she crumbled. "I know you're there!" she cried.

The empty manor echoed.