Cover of We Used to Live Here

We Used to Live Here

by Marcus Kliewer


Genre
Horror, Paranormal, Thriller
Year
2024
Pages
320
Contents

7. Run

Overview

This chapter presents a frantic escape vision in which an unnamed figure is hunted through the woods and chooses death over being dragged back to a “terrible labyrinth.” After the jump, the repeated warning “Once they’re in, they never leave…” and the appearance of a pale blue light deepen the story’s sense of entrapment and suggest that the threat surrounding the house may extend beyond ordinary physical danger.

Summary

An unidentified figure runs through dark woods in panic, crashing through branches while voices call out and searchlights sweep the trees. Although the figure recognizes the words the pursuers are shouting, the meaning does not fully register. The figure’s overriding fear is clear: if the pursuers catch up, they will drag the figure back into a terrible labyrinth.

While fleeing, the figure trips and falls through dirt, branches, and thorns into a stony basin. The figure forces themself back to their feet and keeps moving as the searchers close in, their lights throwing distorted shadows through the brush. The chase drives the figure into a clearing, where the escape route suddenly ends at the edge of a high cliff above shallow water and jagged rocks.

With the pursuers nearly there and no other way out, the figure chooses to jump rather than be taken back. The fall ends in one violent, final impact, and the scene gives way to total blackness.

In the void, a phrase repeats in the figure’s mind with eerie insistence: “Once they’re in, they never leave…” The words turn the chase into something larger than a simple escape, suggesting an inescapable trap. At the end of the vision, a pale blue light begins to form in the distance before the repeated phrase cuts off.

Who Appears

  • Unidentified fleeing figure
    terrified runner in the vision; flees pursuers and jumps from a cliff
  • Unseen pursuers
    voices and searchers in the woods, trying to capture and drag the figure back
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