tlights, a gas station that actually looked like it was still in business, maybe even a person or two walking around-normal things. From Des Moines to here hadn't been a

amed by thick woods that closed i

late, thank God. Work didn't start until tomorrow, technically. The cabin I'd rented along the river was isolated, tucked in deep enough that it practically brushed up against the forest. A perfect location. N

. The details. The look on Mr. Morrison's face when he begged me to come. A full thirty minutes slipped by

le gas station perched like a half-forgotten relic on the corner of an empty street, its neon lights flickering faintly, like they were giving up the will to keep glowing. I took it in, eyes narrowin

e, too-an old itch beneath the surface. One that said: make yourself known. Leave breadcrum

re. Not even the sound of cars echoing from far off. Just dead air pressing in all around. My boots tapped softly against the pavement as I moved to the passenger side and gra

ally so. The sensation curled around the back of my neck like a breath I couldn't place. My eyes drifted to the trees lining the lot-tall

nst my lower back, a small comfort. But the moment I crossed the threshold, something shifted. The air inside felt... wrong.

white hair around the sides. His smile was too quick, too forced. It didn't

op, I s

reaching for my card. "Yeah. Not much fart

ing flickered in his expression-hesitation? Worry? Then he reached for the card and ran it

ehind me. "You're staying in Wolf River

tone. There was something in his voice-too casu

fti

ah. Folks come here sometimes for white w

pump and tucked my card away. "Is it sea

" he muttered, half to himself. He opened his mouth like he wa

ot heavie

aying, if you don

didn't feel right. "A cabin by the river.

our car. You don't strike me as the ATV type

linking. "Is there a

hands fussed with a container of jerky, then a stack of napk

tered. "People've been attacked out there. By... th

fened. "How m

nging a display of candy bars like his life depended on it. "Just a

s later. Still, my thoughts churned as I stepped back into the cold and returned to the pump. The silence outside hadn't ch

f R

sed on bears. Bu

a cold finger

bed back inside, locking the doors without thinking. The h

memory-old stories, whispered w

I wasn't

ain, empty and dark, I couldn't shake the f