And nothing would ever be the same again.

I stood frozen, the darkness closing in around us.

Waiting for the next breath.

Waiting for the next move.

The key in my hand was the only thing that felt real.

I gripped it until the metal bit into my palm.

“Alright,” I whispered into the dark.

“Tell me.”

The shadow took a slow, deep breath.

The floorboards groaned under their weight as they leaned forward.

“It was never about the money, Alana,” the voice said.

“It was about keeping you alive.”

The words hung in the cold air of the cabin.

A sudden draft blew through the room, making the stove door rattle.

The smell of dry leaves and river water swept in.

I waited, my ears straining for any sound from the road outside.

No sirens.

No engines.

Just the wind in the delta, and the breathing of three people in a locked room.

The shadow reached out, a pale hand appearing in the dim starlight from the window.

They held a small, metallic object.

It was a penlight.