It doesn’t feel like it. Instead, it feels like something far worse, something that will drag me down the pits of hell where I should have belonged long ago.
The creak increases, coming closer outside the vehicle parked in the middle of nowhere. It’s loud enough that it’s audible even from within the car, yet Daxton and Grey don’t arise.
Their light snores hang heavy in the cramped space, a steady rhythm that should calm me—they’re both okay and unharmed.
Another crackling sound pierces the atmosphere—a noise that makes my skin crawl from the dissonant note. My next breath is shaky as I focus on breathing properly, feeling as if a madman wants to rip out my vocal cords.
Curiosity gets the better of me as I lean on my elbows, pressing my face against the pane to observe the surroundings.
A web of dread weaves within me as the branches seemingly reach out to me. Shadows in the haunted night, wanting to scare me into a frenzy.
I swallow what feels like liquid fire sliding down my throat, awaiting the moment true terror will strike with a bead of sweat on my spine and a prickling sensation coiling deep within.
Panic wells up, despite trying to tell myself no one is there.
If no one is, why do I still hear the sounds of branches creaking in the distance, and soft footfalls stepping on gravel, leaving them crunching in the aftermath?
A glance to my side reveals Grey is still asleep, and even when both he and Daxton are here with me, I’ve never felt more alone.
As if the creaking wasn’t there to begin with, it silences, but I still dare not breathe. My chest constricts, begging for oxygen, but I cannot make a single sound.
My ears are sharpened, listening intently. Clenching my fists around the blanket surrounding me and Grey in its warmth, I wait for it to begin again.
Like a haunted melody weaving its spell around the forest, the crackling sounds grow nearer, making me lose my breath as I’m thrown back to the day all those months ago. The time Arthur had me run for my life, all in the hope of reaching Grey before he suffocated to death by being buried alive. Arthur played with me like all those dolls he had toyed with around the house.
There. Is. No. One. There.
Convincing myself of that is difficult, especially when a silhouette emerges from the inner depths of the forest. The madman is no longer inside my soul; instead, it has transformed into something far more lethal that threatens to damage one’s organs with one single breath.
One step. Two steps. Three steps, it takes forward, before I see the familiar stance sauntering forward through the shadows. Although I can’t see his face, I swallow harshly as I take in the sight of the black suit clinging to his body like a second skin. Each deliberate step he takes brings back memories of when he warned me about trying to find Rebecca at Dankworth Institute.
Oh God, Rebecca—
”You’re only imagining things, Naya,” I whisper to myself, yet my hands clasp around the blanket tighter, as if that could offer safety from the true monster lurking outside.
The silhouette steps closer, tall and slim like the legend of Slenderman. The shadows dissolve into the gleaming silvery light of early morning as it draws closer, revealing the black-pepper-sprayed hair. I cannot move a single bone in my body, my stare locked on him, willing myself to move but it’s damn impossible.
Something heavy settles over me, making it feel as if the oxygen inside the car has been snuffed out. The creature comescloser, his mouth tipped up into a half-smile, half-frown.
It stops moving, merely standing there while staring into the car—at me.
I don’t dare close my eyes until the sun fully sets, Grey and Daxton awakening with the cluelessness of the creature outside.
Yet, there’s nothing out there any longer, and I can’t help but wonder whether it truly was Emilio Ricci outside.
Or, if I have descended into madness.
––––––––
”WHERE ARE WE GOING?”I ask. The heavy lump in my stomach feels like lead, weighing me down and pinning me to the seat.
None of them replies, their grim expressions focused on the road ahead.
Silence stretches long and taut, filling the space with an awkward tension.
The lead weighing me down twists inside me long after we start driving, weaving through narrow roads in search of a place to sleep.
Grey notices something is off—he keeps glancing at me, but he doesn’t pry, and I’m grateful for that. I can’t bring myself to tell either of them what happened during the night when they were asleep, because I’m not even sure I truly saw Emilio. It wouldn’t be the first time I hallucinated.