"So, to recap on all your study cases, Emma, you just be, uh... Emma. Megan, find out who's been vandalising that condominium. Daniel, you follow me to find out who has been stealing the Hale family's savings. And Matthew, you know yours, another missing person report as always," Daniel summarised their assigned cases.

"You got it. Okay, good luck, everyone," Matthew replied.

He stepped out of the burger restaurant and headed to his car, away from his friends. Before setting off, Matthew looked through his files on the Pace family again. "George Pace and Penelope Pace. Reported missing on May 9, 2020. Additional note: an unidentified subject at the Pace's house tried to attack a paramedic," he read to himself. "It's going to be a long drive," he thought before pulling off.

Thunder crackled as the dark and suffocating clouds hovered over the landscape, making dusk gloomier than it should have been. A strong wind howled chillingly, worsening the mood of the whole place. Over the horizon, Matthew spotted an isolated house in the ghost town of Centralia.

The town was empty and lonely, with a tiny population of 15. Many had vacated the area, all thanks to the ongoing underground coal fire from 1962.

Matthew found the Pace's family situation strange, seeing that they had lived in such a desolate town before disappearing. It was hard enough to vanish without a trace, and to disappear in a lonely village with nowhere to go to was even more puzzling.

Approaching the house, Matthew inspected its design. It was sleek and modern and barely had any dirt stains around it. It seemed relatively new compared to the other ones around it. It was evident that the Pace family had done an excellent job at maintaining it. A sign saying "The Pace's House" confirmed that he was at the right place.

Stepping out of his car, Matthew relooked at his files on George Pace. He then compared the picture of the house and the actual house to double-confirm that he was at the right place. "Hmph," he muttered to himself as he finished checking.

Suddenly, a clanking sound emerged from behind. It sounded as if a piece of wood had been tapped onto his car. It was clear that someone else was around. Either that or something had flown onto his car because of the wind.

"Is someone there?" he asked aloud. Breathing shallowly, he turned his head slowly towards his car. However, there was nothing or no one around. Matthew walked around his car to remove his doubts and ensure that no one was hiding behind it, waiting to ambush him. However, there indeed wasn't anyone in sight.

Then, heavy footsteps were heard. He turned again, this time towards the house, to see, yet again, nothing. The drying bushes around the house swayed as the whistles of the wind drifted through the ghost town, bringing away the warm gulf of air from beneath the place. Dead leaves fell off the bare branches of the bushes, scraping against the ground painfully. And that was all that he could hear now.

Knowing that there was no one around, Matthew heaved a sigh of relief, preparing to walk into the house to investigate it. Or at least he thought so.

A blow to his head with a baseball bat knocked him out.

* * *

Rubbing the spot on his head that got hit, he got out of an old, gothic bed, only to realise that he was trapped in what seemed to be the Pace's family house. Coming to his senses, he got up from the bed jumpily, tiptoeing towards the bedroom door.

After turning the knob gently and pushing the door open, he walked out of the room carefully, stepping gently against the hollow floorboards. He scrutinised the house, noticing the details of every wall, floor and door. He then walked towards the exit and saw that it was bolted shut by two wooden planks, a digital lock and a traditional padlock.

The Pace family—or whoever was holding him captive—had gone absolutely mad.

Just then, he realised that he needed to relieve himself. It was mildly embarrassing, but he shook it off at the thought of it being a basic human need. He walked back up to the second floor and found a guest bathroom. Urgent, he rushed right into it immediately.

All of a sudden, heavy footsteps were heard again. Considering they were completely audible even inside the bathroom, this person's footsteps were rather loud. He gently twisted the doorknob and opened the door ever so slightly that there was a slit between the door and doorframe that allowed him to peep out.

He yet again saw nothing, despite the sounds he had heard. He opened the door slightly more this time to get a better viewing angle and vantage point, but it didn't make any difference. There still wasn't a single living creature in his sight.

Matthew finally made the decision to go back down to the first floor to get a closer look at who or what was in the house. He walked out of the bathroom even more slowly than he did when he went into it to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention from anyone or anything that was around. The footsteps had stopped, but he still had awful vibes about the house.

Walking down the stairs quietly, Matthew kept on the lookout for any movements around him. Since the air in the house was utterly still, nothing should have been moving without any reason. He was convinced that he wasn't alone, but it all seemed too quiet and still for anyone else to be around.

He moved back down to the lobby area, standing in front of the main door. The mysterious number of locks in varying forms on the door puzzled him, making him stare at it and forget about his task for a moment. What mad lad would slap a pair of wooden planks and two different locks just to keep their "guest" locked in—forever?

And then, there was the sound again. This time, it was the sound of footsteps accompanied by the noisy scratching of a wooden object of some sort against the rough wallpaper. It was coming from the dining room to the right of Matthew.

Instinctively, he turned to look towards it. The right side of the doorframe darkened, and a newly-casted shadow blackened the ground around it.

"Hello?" Matthew asked. "Mr Pace," he called out quietly. There was a faint sound of a footstep again, but no response came after. "Mr Pace? Is that you?" he asked again.

Sensing that something was off, he quickly reached down into his pocket for his gun. However, he began fumbling through his pocket as he tried to feel for the weapon. It was only then that he came to the shocking realisation that it was missing.

Unexpectedly, a bat emerged from behind the door frame that led to the kitchen. A dark, brownish silhouette was revealed, holding a wooden baseball bat. Eerie groaning began as the figure moved towards him. Taking quiet steps, Matthew moved back towards the stairs.

Loud thumping sounds reverberated around the house as the figure pursued him up the stairs, beginning his journey towards what could become his slow death...

Matthew sprinted towards the nearest door he could find and pushed it open before heading into the room. He slammed it back close and locked it frantically, ultimately finding himself back in the bedroom that he woke up in.

At that moment, he noticed a small hole in the wall. Above it was a piece of paper containing some faded wording. Upon closer inspection, Matthew saw that it read: George's hide-and-seek escape hole. He didn't really understand what it meant, but it didn't matter to him. He had to get out immediately.

Seeing that it was his only chance of getting away, he quickly dived under it, just as he heard loud slamming sounds on the door. "This person must seriously be insane," he muttered quietly to himself as he moved through the hole in the wall.

Matthew stayed still and made sure that he was soundless. He could hear the sound of wood snapping and the bedroom door slamming down, which cancelled any noise he made. However, he wanted to play safe and thus continued to remain as quiet as a mouse would be.

He then crept down and peeped through the hole. He hoped to get a good look at who the person exactly was, but sadly for him, they left as soon as they came.

Deciding that it was safe to make a move, he crawled back into the bedroom through the hole before noticing that there was another stairway—to the attic. The stranger was not in sight. Thus, he crept his way towards the stairwell in a careful attempt not to make the floorboards creak. Gentle tiptoes, he thought.

He arrived at the shabby attic. It was pretty run-down, unlike the rest of the house. Cobwebs dominated the dusty roof, and dead mice were all cramped in one corner of the place. It was clear that no one had been up there for a long time.

He looked around and only saw another vent hole, three storage rooms, and a corner with lots of boxes.

A creaking noise suddenly came about. As a result, Matthew looked downwards to where he had heard the creaking noise. "Crap," he muttered under his breath. Looking through the spaces between the floorboards, he caught another unclear glimpse of the mysterious stranger. Growling noises that the person made and crimson-red eyes they possessed gave Matthew the realisation that they might not be ordinary after all.

Frightened, he retreated backwards before his left foot rested on nothing but a hole. Losing balance, he slipped off the platform and gasped quietly to avoid attracting the person's attention. Of course, it would be purposeful if he would even manage to survive. Fortunately, he was able to grip onto the dilapidated wooden floor before he could slip to his death.

Seeing that the rotting planks of the attic floor started to splinter and split, he quickly pulled himself out before he did any further damage to the floorboards. He groaned in exhaustion before he was finally able to get back up fully.

Thudding sounds began again as the thing slowly walked up the stairs, ready to knock him dead, this time with its bat. Matthew looked left and right unknowingly before remembering that there was a vent hole above the open stairway. He hesitated for a moment before he made the final decision to slide into the vent.

The slippery vent had a steep decline that pushed him down to the ground floor. He carefully removed the vent hole cover and stepped out quietly, leaving the lid inside the vent. In front of him was a door that he slowly opened to peep through and look out for the being. Luckily for him, there was no sign of it for the time being.

On his way to the staircase, the crescendo of thumping and growling sounds came—the creature was nearby. A painful-sounding shriek was enough to send him running to escape.

If there were anything that could harm Matthew, it would have been that thing. Blood red eyes, monstrous size, and furry skin. Was it human? Highly unlikely. To Matthew, his entire predicament felt like he was running from a werewolf while being trapped in a house, made to look innocent. However, in actual fact, the home was so haunted that it could be used as a set for a horror movie.

He walked back again towards the other door he was at previously and made a dash for the staircase. Running towards the attic, he told himself that he had to survive no matter what. This time, he knew to avoid going near the hole in the attic floor at all costs, not even stepping on the breaking floorboards around it.

As both time and the creature were against him, Matthew began to tremble uncontrollably as he rushed to reach for resources to help with his escape. Continuous, inhuman groans kept up his pace, using the element of fear purely to stir himself.

After avoiding the hole and going over to the other side of the attic, he saw two rooms, one on the left and one on the right. He opened the door on the right, and in the room were a dozen boxes and a key in one of them. A key that could possibly assist him in his escape. Amid his short-lived glee, however, he was quick to notice something standing not quite far from him.

He finally see the creature.

It was a monstrous boar-human hybrid.