Synopsis:
When 16-year-old Ethan Carter moves to the sleepy town of Black Hollow, he expects nothing more than boredom. But after stumbling upon an abandoned house in the woods - one rumored to be haunted - he awakens something buried deep in the town's dark history.
The house belonged to the Holloway family, who mysteriously vanished twenty years ago. When Ethan finds an old journal filled with cryptic messages, he realizes their disappearance wasn't an accident - it was a cover-up. Now, strange occurrences begin to follow him: eerie whispers in the night, shadowy figures lurking in the corners of his vision, and an unsettling feeling that someone - or something - is watching him.
Determined to uncover the truth, Ethan teams up with Ivy Monroe, the rebellious new girl with a knack for hacking, and his childhood best friend, Leo Sanchez. As they decode the journal's messages, they unearth a chilling conspiracy involving a secret society, hidden tunnels beneath the town, and a force that doesn't want them digging any further.
The deeper they go, the more the shadows close in. With each revelation, the line between reality and nightmare blurs, and Ethan realizes that some secrets were meant to stay buried. But now that the darkness has noticed him, there's no turning back.
Can Ethan and his friends escape the clutches of the forgotten, or will they become part of Black Hollow's long list of missing souls?
Chapter 1: The Arrival
Ethan Carter sat in the back seat of his mother's car, staring out the window as they drove past endless trees. The road twisted and turned, each curve pulling them deeper into the heart of Black Hollow. A town that felt stuck in time - quaint houses, narrow streets, and an eerie silence that clung to the air like fog.
"This is it," his mother said with forced enthusiasm. "Our new home."
Ethan didn't answer. He didn't want a new home. He wanted to be back in the city, where the streets were busy, where his friends still were. But after his parents' divorce, his mother decided Black Hollow was the perfect place for a fresh start.
Their house was an old, two-story structure at the edge of town, its paint peeling and shutters barely holding on. As they unpacked, Ethan noticed the way the neighbors watched them from a distance, whispering among themselves.
School wasn't any better. Black Hollow High was small, the kind of place where everyone knew each other, and newcomers stood out like a sore thumb. He met Leo Sanchez in history class - an easygoing guy who still remembered Ethan from when they were kids. Then there was Ivy Monroe, the girl everyone whispered about. She had a sharp tongue, an even sharper mind, and an attitude that screamed trouble.
During lunch, Ethan overheard a group of students whispering about something called the Holloway house. His curiosity got the best of him.
"That house in the woods?" Leo said when Ethan asked. "You don't want to mess with that."
"Why?"
"Because it's haunted," Ivy chimed in, smirking. "And everyone who goes there? regrets it."
That night, Ethan couldn't shake the thought. He needed to see it for himself.
