Chapter 12: Something Else In The Dark
309 Words
Lena barely slept that night.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw claws. Teeth. Cade’s golden eyes flashing in the dark.
By the time dawn broke, she had given up on sleep altogether.
She sat at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in her hands, staring at the door like she expected it to swing open at any second.
It didn’t.
Cade hadn’t come back.
Good.
She needed space. She needed time to process everything, to separate the boy she grew up with from the thing she had seen last night.
But time wasn’t on her side.
Because just as she took a sip of coffee, her phone buzzed against the table.
She glanced at the screen. Unknown Number.
Frowning, she hesitated before answering. “Hello?”
A second of silence. Then—
“Lena.”
A chill ran down her spine.
She didn’t recognize the voice.
It was low, raspy, like the person on the other end had been breathing in smoke.
“Who is this?” she asked, gripping the phone tighter.
The voice chuckled. Too slow. Too wrong.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you.”
Lena’s stomach twisted. “You have the wrong number.”
Another laugh. This one sharper.
“No,” the voice said. “I don’t.”
The line went dead.
Lena pulled the phone away, heart pounding.
Her hands were clammy. She wiped them against her jeans, swallowing hard.
That voice.
It had felt like it was watching her.
She stood up, crossing to the window. The street outside was empty, the morning sun doing little to chase away the unease curling in her gut.
Something was wrong.
And Cade’s warning echoed in her head.
“If you hear howling… don’t go outside.”
But what if the danger didn’t howl?
What if it called instead?
- Writer
