CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Ilse shifted uncomfortably as she unlocked the door to her apartment, occasionally casting glances over her shoulder towards the stairwell.
The shadows around her stood out like looming gargoyles, and more than once—as she'd walked from the parking lot—she'd jolted at the faintest sound of someone throwing trash in the dumpsters, or a neighbor shuffling about in their apartment.
Now, as she unlocked her own door, she hesitated before stepping into the room beyond, her gaze scanning the entrance, over the sparse furniture, towards the wood-burning stove visible in one corner, along the carpeted ground.
She frowned, her expression flickering darkly. Nothing visible stood out. Nothing untoward.
“Hello?” she murmured softly.
Then, she spotted it.
Not a person, but a
