Rootrot

October 14, 1925. Forty feet below the waterline of a rising lake, Arthur Thorne is digging a grave—not for a man, but for a secret. Driven by the desperation of a crumbling family legacy, Arthur has returned from the Congolese interior with a biological impossibility: "The Heart." It is a massive, pulsing tuber that promises to transform the barren, rocky soil of the Thorne estate into a lush, eternal harvest. It is the miracle the family needs. It is the answer to their prayers. But miracles require a tithe. With a single drop of blood and a rhythmic throb that vibrates through stone and bone alike, the Heart awakens. It does not just grow; it hungers. As white, needle-thin filaments thread themselves into the very marrow of the manor's foundation, the house begins to shift, and the ground begins to breathe. Arthur intended to plant a garden. Instead, he has unleashed an ancient, subterranean kingdom that has tired of the dark. Now, as a storm breaks over the lake, the roots are spreading, the spores are rising, and the Thorne family is about to discover that when you invite the earth to feast, you are always the main course. The harvest has begun. The Rootrot is here.