Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 21796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21796 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 109(@200wpm)___ 87(@250wpm)___ 73(@300wpm)
I lifted the tinsel from the chair, the metallic strands crackling under my fingers. It was cool, felt faintly oily. Then I threw it to the floor, daring the cabin to fight back, to give me something I could destroy and prove I still had control.
The bedroom door loomed open. No one could be inside. Everything was locked. I exhaled, rolled my shoulders, and shut it with a hard click that sounded too final.
I checked the kitchen again because, well, that’s what people did in movies before they were killed. The knives were all in their block except the one in my hand. Every drawer, every cabinet, perfectly in place.
I passed the fireplace. Heat licked my ankles. Wind moaned down the chimney, bending the flames until they thinned then straightened again.
I walked over to the front door. The deadbolt was still set. I pressed my fingertips to the cold metal just to feel something solid. Breathe, I told myself, but the taste in my mouth was sharp and metallic as adrenaline bled through me.
Shaking, I went back to the table. The laptop glowed against the dark, a square of cold light. My stomach dropped. A new paragraph had appeared… one I hadn’t written.
I counted to ten and stared, heart hammering hard enough to bruise. Someone was here. Someone had written the words to terrify me, and they’d succeeded.
“Count to ten again,” I whispered, trying to anchor myself. But the air around me filled with something I couldn’t name.
“One, two, three.” The longer I counted, the steadier I felt. “Four, five, six.” My shoulders eased, the world snapping back into focus by inches. “Seven, eight, nine, ten.” I exhaled.
“Good girl,” said a voice from the bedroom—low, muffled, a vibration in the air more than sound.
I didn’t scream. Couldn’t. The air shifted against my neck, and every nerve caught fire.
“Who’s there?” I forced the question out, calm only because I willed it.
Silence. Then the lights went out again. They were playing games.
I gripped the knife harder, the handle biting into my palm. I couldn’t see a thing, only felt the thunder of my heartbeat in my ears.
Something brushed the back of my sweater. It was so faint it could’ve been imagined. A fingertip tracing the nape of my neck, testing the softness of my skin.
I spun, slashing the air, but met nothing. The blade sliced through emptiness, a whisper of violence swallowed by the dark. The touch didn’t return, but the air shifted again. Breath skimmed my jaw. Close. Intimate.
My body betrayed me. Heat pooled low, electric and wrong. My lungs forgot how to breathe, and shame threaded through the shiver that rolled down my spine.
“Leave me alone,” I repeated, softer this time. I hated that, too.
Then the lights flared back on. Definitely intentional, as if someone wanted to remind me they could take them away just as easily.
In the new wash of shadow and glow, something moved across the far wall. A long curve—an antler’s silhouette, maybe? Quick. Metallic. Gone in a flash.
The fire cracked, spitting sparks that threw my shadow high onto the ceiling. For a heartbeat and a half, it wasn’t alone. Three others joined it.
My skin prickled. “Cowards,” I said.
The room answered with a soft tap. It wasn’t on glass this time but wood. It came from the short hallway leading to the back door. Another tap followed then a third, each one farther away. Like a metronome ticking in the dark.
Of course, I followed.
The hallway swallowed light. The Christmas bulbs and fire couldn’t reach this far. The bathroom door on the left was shut. The closet on the right… slightly ajar. I was sure I’d closed it.
Shadows warped. The air heavy. I could feel movement but saw nothing. Was I losing it? Was the isolation unraveling me?
I pressed my fingers to the closet door and nudged it open, knife forward. It was ridiculous and brave in the same breath. Cleaning supplies. Paper towels. Nothing else.
I let out a shaky breath and shut it. The latch clicked, and another click answered behind me. Soft. Precise. I spun so fast my vision blurred.
Another click echoed through the cabin, then silence pressed in again. The knife I held was raised, every muscle locked. The hallway yawned open into the living room, and for a heartbeat, the only thing I saw was firelight and a red and green glow.
I moved slowly, feeling the hair on my arms stand on end, my heart racing, and sweat beading at my temples.
When I rounded the corner, I saw them.
Three men stood between me and the door, filling the small space as if the cabin had shrunk around them.
The first was half shadow, half flame. He was broad-shouldered, all quiet control and contained power. His short black hair was mussed at the crown. His mask hid his mouth but not those piercing gray eyes. They watched me as if he already knew how this would end.