pretending she wasn't waiting. Three days of lying to herself that it meant nothing. Tha

wallowed in shadows. The only light came from a smal

as nothing..No glow.

like stars that had given up.

t 2:03 a.m., like clockwork, it would come alive-three claw marks t

cted. It wasn't healing either..it was just... wrong..an

e smell came first..smell of Pine

and a package sat on the floor, just ins

.No creak

ed in brown paper and tied with

for it. "What the hell..." sh

it could explain something. Anythin

ined for move

glass jar inside, dark green and heavy. It l

d out-woodsy, fresh, but edged with iron. She flinc

burn,"

egant handwritin

thick ointment. "Oh God... t

. She didn't know who se

But her scar flared again, and so

r," she whispered, dipping two fingers

cool and

..instantly, the fire dulled...Not co

ief...it was Like someone h

elf. "Thank you," she whispered to no one. Her breath slo

he dr

hispering between the pines. The moonligh

e was

ilver

es met hers-no growl, no warning, only silence. But

orward. Her h

eache

shed the space jus

ot with terror,

dark again.

rned, but now it pulsed in r

t...not on the window..On her shelf,

a crescent. Etched with symbols that

been the

aught. "No.

a full minute, heart

the object might vanish i

it d

whispered again,

ep forward. Then anot

elt. She stared at it-this small thing that

oice was barely audible.

"You're fine, Nina. You're jus

ed them, the thin

eache

tly. She pulled back

ssing her palms together

ouche

lief surge from the ointment flushed through her arm. The p

folded not

eep w

trembling. "Keep

hat felt like bone. Her fingertips tin

k a ste

. Sudden...Scratch-scra

amed, spinning

loor near the fridge, cla

ot caught on the rug, and she crashed to the floor

chen, eyes darting around. "Whe

o the drawer, gripping a kitch

night.

r room and locked

e of her bed, knife in

nt was dead

fear w

he ointment jar. The crescent-ca

call her sister. But

d she even e

he dark...the kni

ething ancient pressi