That Night

ezekielod promise Suspense/Thriller

That Night is a prose realistic fiction written by Promise Odoemenam
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Story Description of That Night
Genre & Themes:
That Night is a psychological thriller with elements of supernatural horror and mystery. It explores themes of perception vs. reality, the fragility of memory, the weight of guilt, and the unseen forces that shape human fate. The story delves into existential horror—where truth is elusive, and those who seek it are often consumed by it.
Setting:
The novel is primarily set in and around an abandoned mansion located deep in the countryside, an architectural relic from a bygone era. The mansion, rumored to be haunted, becomes the site of an exclusive, invitation-only party that quickly turns into something sinister. The setting shifts between the present, where the mansion lies in ruins, and the past, where secrets unfold within its walls.
Main Character – Mia Carter:
Mia Carter is a 23-year-old investigative journalist, skeptical yet drawn to the unknown. She is rational, determined, and persistent, but the events of that night shake her to the core. She is one of the few survivors of the mansion incident, yet she cannot recall everything that transpired. As she digs deeper, she realizes that the truth is more elusive—and terrifying—than she ever imagined.
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Story Structure & Breakdown
Part One: The Invitation & the Party (Chapters 1–10)
The novel opens with Mia receiving an anonymous invitation to an extravagant party at Blackwood Manor, a long-abandoned mansion. The invitation is cryptic, revealing little about the host but boasting exclusivity. Against her better judgment, Mia is intrigued. She learns that many influential people—actors, journalists, tech moguls, and socialites—have received similar invitations.
On the night of the party, guests arrive at the mansion, which is impeccably restored despite its decades of abandonment. The atmosphere is intoxicating—classical music, lavish decor, and a strange, dreamlike quality to the night. Yet, unease simmers beneath the surface. The host remains unseen, whispers of past tragedies spread, and Mia notices small inconsistencies—things shifting when she isn’t looking, strange symbols hidden in the architecture, and a growing sense of déjà vu.
As the night progresses, the party takes a sinister turn. The exits disappear. The clocks freeze at midnight. The guests begin vanishing one by one. Mia and a handful of others—Noah (a quiet, observant bartender), Evelyn (a mysterious woman who seems to know more than she lets on), and Daniel (a skeptical scientist)—realize that something is very wrong. They attempt to leave, only to find that the mansion does not obey the laws of reality.
Part Two: The Collapse & the Aftermath (Chapters 11–25)
Mia wakes up outside the ruins of the mansion. There is no trace of the party, no guests, and no evidence that the mansion was ever restored. The grand estate is now a burned-down husk, long abandoned.
When Mia reports the incident to the police, they dismiss her story. There is no record of an event at Blackwood Manor. The guest list, which was publicly shared on social media, is wiped clean. The people she met—including Noah, Evelyn, and Daniel—are missing, their online traces erased. Even the invitation she received no longer exists.
Determined to uncover the truth, Mia begins investigating. She tracks down survivors—if they can be called that. Each of them suffers from fragmented memories, paranoia, and hallucinations. Some claim they never attended the party, while others have mysteriously died under bizarre circumstances.
A sense of something watching her grows. Shadows move in the corners of her vision. She finds cryptic messages in places she swears she didn’t write them. She learns of the mansion’s history—of a secret society known as The Architects, rumored to have dabbled in time manipulation and reality bending. The mansion wasn’t just a location; it was a gateway to something beyond human understanding.
Part Three: The Descent Into Madness (Chapters 26–50)
As Mia digs deeper, reality unravels. She finds old photographs of Blackwood Manor—one of them showing a woman who looks exactly like her, dated 1924. Nightmares plague her, and soon, she begins losing time. Hours vanish in the blink of an eye. The world around her changes subtly—signs in stores display different names, friends no longer recognize her, and her own reflection sometimes lags behind her movements.
She tracks down Evelyn, the only other guest whose memories align with hers. Evelyn reveals that they were part of a ritual that night—one designed to feed something dwelling beyond time, an entity the Architects tried to portray .

Unfold