Hannah was in a dilemma - she wanted to go, the drive, the reason was enough to pull her towards the house, but then she had also made a promise to her dad to keep herself and her brother safe. She doesn't want to lose her brother or doesn't want anything to happen to them. After all, it was a choice of life or death from that point. But whichever path she would choose, there's danger on every footstep. She remembered why they came there in the first place. John was right. No matter if they go back or move on, Diana would definitely try to do something evil. He was right. They cannot wait any longer. They cannot risk any more lives. She looked at her brother. Something in his eyes, a force so strong to fight, to defeat an evil entity, to save lives. Seeing him made everything clear. Holding his brother's arm, she said, "Let's go."

The house was very old with dried grasses and bushes surrounding it. What was odd was that after 10 miles starting from the house, everything was green - a green field with lush vegetation. But around the house, within the 10 miles radius surrounding the house, everything was dried and burnt. Only above the house, the sky lost its luster and the shine from all the moon and the stars. There were no houses or neighborhoods around Nick's house - it stood alone, like a person stranded on a deserted island throughout his life, whose even skeleton was left unnoticed. It was a 3 story house giving off an icy-cold-ghostly-odd vibe. Dried climbers surrounded the chipped paints of the walls.

They moved forward to approach the main door. With every footstep, the dried leaves beneath their feet made a cracking sound. Moving closer to the door, they could feel as if they were being watched. Even though they were the only two there, weird noises started to come from around them which made them startled, made them look around in fear, but nothing or no one was there - were their minds playing dark games on them? Or was there someone coming for them which the two were unprepared for?

Reaching the door, a small house plate was covered with some dead vines. Removing the vines to one side, John saw 'House No. 666' etched on the tarnished metal plate. Hannah pushed the old rusted metal door forward, which had beautiful carvings and patterns, but it was jammed due to the years of being left unnoticed. With every force they had, both of them pushed the door harder which moved inside a bit, the creaking sound amplified with every push they gave it.

Putting a step forward, Hannah coughed due to the dust that drifted in the air. The whole place was pitch black - like a black abyss. They took out their phones and shone the flashlight in front of them illuminating the room. The place was covered with cobwebs in which Hannah and John got entangled.

"Ugh," Hannah groaned as her body shivered in disgust as she tried to break free, removing the webs as fast as she can.

"I know. We have to watch our every step. Even the floor could break if we're not careful." John replied keeping and lifting his foot off from the floor every second checking it which gave a creaking-about-to-break sound in return.

The hall was huge - with carpets, chandelier, a high ceiling which made the room look more spacious. But the conditions that they were in were worst. They were covered in dust, with broken or torn or chewed up pieces of furniture, boarded up windows, and a chilling vibe that enveloped the entire house.

With their flashlights pointing to every item and corner of the room, they inspected everything and every place. This time, they both looked together - not taking the risk of searching alone as they did before. They inspected every nook and cranny, underneath the carpet, floor, even inside and outside the items. They didn't want to miss any place or spot.

"Try searching the floor too. Remember Nick mentioned that the stone fell from his father's pocket when he got up? Let's check the dining area."

The dining area had paintings that were tilted and whose frames were broken from sides. Looking at the dining table and chairs, it looked like they must be of colonial style with a small light source hanging above. Even after searching the entire room, they got nothing.

"Where could the stone be?" Hannah asked sliding the chairs and shining the light to check the floor.

"Maybe someone took it? I don't know. It had been so many years." John said stretching his back.

"Let's try in that room." Hannah pointed to a room in a far end from the room they stood in.

They both began pacing in that direction when suddenly something crashed and shattered on the floor.

"What's that?" Hannah jolted in shock and turned around, flashing the area from where she thought the sound came.

In front of them, the flashlight illuminated a broken small glass vase that fell down from the shelf, breaking into many tiny pieces.

"Maybe it was the wind. Or a rat? " John suggested.

Both of them knew that it was just a lame and false excuse, but for the time being, they wanted to believe it as they didn't want to think about the reason which they were thinking. The house was in itself scary. Every little movement could be caused by anything or anyone. But they decided to stick to being optimistic - even a false one.

Turning back around, they walked towards the room. Turning the knob, they saw a fallen study table, with the papers and photo frames shattered on the floor, a tilted bed whose one leg was broken and a curtain rod slanted and bend from one side causing the torn curtains to slide to one side showing a broken window behind them - all the items, furniture, and everything laid broken and haphazardly everywhere.

"Woah," Hannah shone her flashlight around the room. "It looks like a tornado just hit this place."

"Be careful," John said carefully inspecting the room. "I can hardly see the flo-o"

"John!" Hannah screamed and turned to face his brother.

"Ouch, my leg!" John tripped over something and fell causing the dust to swim in the air.

"Look who just said to be careful," Hannah extended her hands towards John.

"You're mocking me even in this haunted place? Really?"

Hannah held back a giggle. John got up and shone the light to the cause of his fall. Both of them stood frozen for a second seeing what John had tripped over.

A dead rotten bat laid on the ground covered in dried blood - the blood-covered its entire body. Its eyes were wide and they both felt as if it was staring right at them which caused a chill to run down their spine. John moved his phone to a little left. Another dead bird. A little right and another dead bird. Hannah moved her phone over the entire area and saw a huge flock of dead birds laying in front of them, all with their eyes - no pupil but wide opened and staring at the two kids.

They stepped back a little bit seeing the dead bodies.

"H-Hannah," John stammered. "What is all this? Was Nick's father a bird killer by profession? The stares of these dead birds are really scaring me to death."

No reply.

"Hannah?" John looked in the direction Hannah was looking at. "What's that?"

"I don't know," Hannah was looking at a wall that had a giant splash of red color on it. Upon moving the flashlight closer to the wall and squinting her eyes to focus, she said, "I think it is, it is blood."

"What?" John moved closer to the wall. How can you be so sure? It could be some wall paint after all."

"Just one splash of red paint on a wall - that's an unusual decor choice."

"Wait! Hannah! Look!" He ran his fingers over the red covered wall spot. "Seems as if something hard had hit here causing the wall to go inside and crack a bit."

"Well, this wall isn't the only one which has blood on it, look,"

Getting confused over what Hannah was saying, he looked in Hannah's direction and illuminated the walls with his flashlight. Written in blood, all over the walls were two words that filled the space -

I'm sorry
I'm sorry
I'm sorry
I'm sorry

"This whole room is just so messed up," John said as he moved his flashlight upwards.

"It's like this room belonged to a mentally disturbed person."

"Nick's dad," John whispered under his breath.

"What?"

"This has to be Nick's dad's room. Nick wasn't allowed in here. He had even written that once he had heard a huge bang coming from his father's room and the next day his father had bandages wrapped around his head. All this mess and dead birds - something definitely must have happened here. But what?"

"J-J-John," Hannah tapped John's shoulder. Her voice was shaking.

John faced Hannah and saw that she was staring at the ceiling with her face filled with fear and her eyes wide in horror. He looked at the ceiling and stood there aghast.

Written on the ceiling was -

'You will pay for your sins'