The Deceit

When three friends take a wrong turn in the Scottish Highlands, they stumble upon a house that should have been their salvation. Instead, it becomes their nightmare. A tyre blowout, dead phones, and a rising fog push Stevie, Wayne, and Gary off the road and into the grounds of an isolated, decaying estate. The house welcomes them with warmth and shelter — but the moment the door closes, the rules of reality begin to unravel. Scratching in the walls. Voices that don't belong to any of them. Doors opening on their own. Time stretching and folding like a dream they can't wake from. And the house… watching. As the night deepens, each of them is forced to confront something personal — memories they've buried, guilt they've carried, and fears they've never spoken aloud. Wayne sees something in the mirror that isn't him. Stevie recognises the house from her recurring nightmares. Gary hears screams no one else can. The house is alive. And it wants something. Bound by an ancient force stitched into its foundations, the estate feeds on fear, memory, and the fractures between waking and dreaming. To survive the night, the trio must uncover what the house remembers — and why it chose them. But the deeper they go, the more they realise:This isn't a haunting. It's a trap. And the nightmare isn't inside the house — the house is inside them. A claustrophobic, psychological horror novella blending folklore, dream logic, and the creeping dread of being watched by something you can't understand.