Short Horror Novel

One stormy night, Mary was alone at home. She was sitting on the sofa in the living room, flipping through an old book. Suddenly, a rapid knock on the door interrupted her reading. She hesitated because no one was supposed to visit at this hour. The knock on the door sounded again, more urgently. Mary mustered up her courage and slowly walked towards the door. She looked out through the peephole, but saw nothing but darkness. She swallowed and opened the door with trembling hands. There was no one outside the door, only the wind was howling. She was about to close the door when a cold hand suddenly grabbed her wrist. She turned her head in horror, but she only saw a pale face with empty eyes and a weird smile on the corner of her mouth. "Finally found you, Mary." The voice was low and hollow, as if it came from another world. Mary wanted to scream, but found she couldn't make any sound. She felt that her body was being dragged into the dark abyss by invisible forces, and that hand was always holding her tightly and refused to let go. This novel and its characters are purely fictitious. Any similarity is purely coincidental and should not be imitated.