Chapter 1
I took a few steps forward, and the world twisted into something I couldn’t unsee.
My breath caught, sharp and painful, as my heartbeat hammered beneath the blood‑stained fabric clinging to me. Nausea curled in my stomach. I pressed a hand over my mouth, silencing the pain I could not yet let out.
I had only come inside to look for her.
My sister, missing for a week.
The last time I’d seen her, she had bruises blooming across her jaw, fading finger‑shaped marks on her neck
Marks she refused to explain. But I knew. I knew exactly who they belonged to.
Behind me, his footsteps traced the same path I’d taken.
I recognized the sound before I even turned.
I recognized him.
Tears blurred my vision. Sweat gathered on my skin. My hands trembled, desperate, numb.
Then he appeared.
Right there.
Right in front of me.
His smile was the same twisted one I’d seen when he used to stand next to her. Her ex, the one she escaped. The one who couldn’t handle her leaving… or her marrying someone else.
An animalistic scream escaped my mouth before I could stop it.
He held a blood‑coated knife, drying flakes catching in the dim light. The smell of decay filled the air. He stepped closer.
“Stay away from me,” I warned, voice shaking violently.
“Don’t touch me. Don’t take another step. I swear—I’ll fight you I will.”
His wicked grin widened.
My stomach twisted.
I searched the floor desperately for anything—anything at all.
His breathing grew louder. Closer.
One… Two… Thre...
A deafening gunshot cracked through the rotten walls.
He fell.
I stumbled, hands shaking uncontrollably, as I turned toward the trembling figure behind me—
my sister.
She was slumped against the wall, breathing in shallow, uneven gasps.
Her face was bruised, swollen, scratched—evidence of everything he put her through.
Everything she tried to escape.
Her lips trembled as she tried to form words.
“He…” her voice broke, barely there. “He’s… he’s there…”
Her gaze drifted toward a dark corner—somewhere far away, somewhere full of memories I didn’t want to imagine.
I dropped beside her, my voice cracking.
“Hey—hey, I’m here. I’m here, okay? Stay with me. Please stay with me.”
I pressed a hand against her chest, searching for a heartbeat.
Nothing.
“No—no, no, don’t do this. Not now. Not here,” I whispered, shaking.
Then—
A faint twitch.
A tiny movement beneath my palm.
Barely noticeable, but there.
“Okay… okay… you’re still here. You’re still here with me,” I breathed, tears sliding down my face. “Hold on. Just hold on. I’ll get you out. We’ll leave. We’ll go right now. I promise.”
Behind me, a wet gasp cut through the silence.
He was still alive.
Something inside me snapped.
I lifted the gun with both hands, my entire body trembling.
My voice cracked as I whispered,
“You dont get to hufrt her again. Not anymore”
I fired.
He collapsed. This time… he didn’t rise.
I turned back to her, stroking her hair, trying to calm the panic forming in my throat.
“We’re leaving. I’m not letting this place take you from me. I cant”
The walls felt too tight, pressing in around us. I forced myself to stand, picking her up as best I could. My legs nearly buckled.
I ran.
I ran out of the building, into the freezing night air that felt sharper than before.
I didn’t stop.
Didn’t look back.
I had seen too much... more than anyone should.
And I knew it would haunt me for the rest of my life.
But then I heard it.
A scream.
Not hers.
Not mine.
Someone else’s. coming from the building behind me.
I froze.
Another sound followed—a soft laugh that had a sense of evil in it. A sense of victory- Or a sense of relief. Or maybe something else I hadn’t managed to figure out. A laugh- High, broken, laugh. Echoing.
A laugh that sounded… almost like my sister’s.
Almost.
“Could it be her?”
“She’s with me. She’s with me... She’s with me...” her voice whispered in my head, over and over, looping until my ears rang.
“NO! No. Stop” I whispered to myself, clutching my head.
“You’re alive. You’re alive? That was’nt you. That wasnt..”
Another laugh. Closer this time. Or maybe it was only in my mind. I couldn’t tell anymore. And that made it worse...
