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The Tenants Below the Frost Line

horror◐ Teen
5 contributors · 4 paragraphs deep

I taped a baby monitor to the floor and listened from my room. The tapping turned into a voice, soft and friendly. "Come down before the others wake," it said. "I saved a spot just for you. The lowest one. The best one." It knew my name. It used my mom's voice.

I obeyed the voice and crept down before sunrise, drawn by my mom's stolen words. At the lowest step waited a row of empty chairs, one for every family that ever lived here. The last chair had my name carved in it. As I sat, the cold tucked me in like a blanket, and I finally understood the rent was always paid in children.

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