Rootrot

<p><strong>October 14 1925.</strong></p><p>Forty feet below the waterline of a rising lake Arthur Thorne is digging a grave-not for a man but for a secret.</p><p>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.</p><p>But miracles require a tithe.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>The harvest has begun. The Rootrot is here.</p>