I heard the dog barking again. A child's crying accompanied it.
In between came the family's terrified screams.
The haunting hadn't stopped. Instead, another ghost had appeared in the house.
The two ghosts had no connection to each other and showed no purposeful behavior. One was an animal, the other a child. They simply made sounds on instinct, making their presence known.
The whole family living in the house was on the verge of being driven mad.
I heard indistinct arguing, then the sounds of a fight.
No one came into my room again. The people living in the house seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement to stay away from it.
The chaos subsided a little, and I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. They climbed slowly, each step making the wooden floor creak. The child's crying drowned them out, so the sound came and went.
After a long time, I finally heard the footsteps reach the door. The handle turned slowly, and the door opened just as slowly. Whoever was outside hesitated, their movements tentative.
The child kept crying.
When the door opened, I saw an old man with white hair standing outside. The old man glanced at the crib, fear showing in his eyes. Still, he pushed the door open and came inside. With the door standing open, I could see the hand he'd been hiding behind his back. A hunting rifle was sticking out from it.
The old man brought the rifle in front of his chest, then shakily raised it and aimed at the crib.
There was no child in the bed, only the sound of crying. It was a bizarre scene.
Even to me, the phenomenon seemed bizarre. I couldn't sense any yin energy from the child, nor could I see its form.
Bang!