Chapter 4 - The Man In Black
1084 Words
The Scarf by the Forest
Lena couldn't sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, she heard the voice beneath the cemetery.
Lena… Come home.
She sat on the edge of the bed inside Ashford House, staring at the crescent-moon necklace around her neck.
Rowan had brought her there after the cemetery.
He had refused to explain the voice.
He had refused to explain the vision.
And when Lena asked him what was beneath the cemetery, he had simply said:
“Something that should have stayed buried.”
Now the house was silent.
Too silent.
Lena stood and walked toward the window.
Beyond the glass, Black Hollow disappeared into darkness.
Then she saw something red.
A flash between the trees.
Her breath caught.
She opened the window.
Cold air rushed inside.
The red object was lying near the edge of the forest.
A scarf.
Lena stared at it.
Something about it felt familiar.
She slipped on her coat and left the house.
The forest was only a short distance away.
The closer she came, the colder the air became.
She stopped beside the scarf.
It was faded red.
Old.
Damp from the night air.
Lena crouched.
Her hand hovered above it.
She remembered Dr. Vale's words.
We found your scarf near the lake.
Slowly, she touched it.
The world disappeared.
Rain.
Heavy rain.
She was running.
Small feet pounded against wet earth.
Branches scratched her arms.
Someone was chasing her.
“Run!”
A child's voice.
Lena turned.
A little girl was running behind her.
The same girl from the previous vision.
The girl was crying.
“Lena!”
Lena tried to reach her.
But suddenly a man appeared between the trees.
Tall.
Dressed completely in black.
His face was hidden beneath a wide-brimmed hat.
The little girl screamed.
“Don't let him take me!”
Lena turned toward the man.
He stepped forward.
But he wasn't chasing them.
He was looking behind them.
Someone else was coming.
A woman's voice screamed through the rain.
“Take Lena and run!”
The man in black grabbed Lena's arm.
“Listen to me.”
His voice was calm.
“Do not look back.”
Lena looked anyway.
Five shadows stood between the trees.
Watching.
Waiting.
One of them raised a hand.
The vision fractured.
Lena saw the lake.
The red scarf.
Blood on the ground.
A man's hand reaching for hers.
Then—
Darkness.
Lena ripped her hand away from the scarf.
She fell backward, gasping.
The forest was silent.
She stared at the red fabric.
Her heart hammered.
“That wasn't a memory.”
A voice came from behind her.
“It was.”
Lena spun around.
Rowan stood between the trees.
His expression was hard.
“You followed me.”
“I followed you because you left the house alone.”
“I saw something.”
“I know.”
“You always say that.”
Rowan walked toward the scarf.
His eyes darkened.
“You shouldn't have touched it.”
“You knew it was here.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I hoped you'd never find it.”
Lena stood.
“What is it?”
“The scarf they found beside Hollow Lake.”
Her stomach dropped.
“This is mine?”
“It was found ten years ago.”
“But you said there was no body.”
“There wasn't.”
“Then why was my scarf there?”
Rowan looked toward the forest.
“Because something happened that night.”
“What?”
He didn't answer.
“Rowan.”
His eyes met hers.
“I've spent ten years trying to find out.”
Before Lena could respond, something moved deeper in the trees.
Rowan immediately turned.
“Stay behind me.”
“What is it?”
“I don't know.”
A branch snapped.
Then another.
Lena stepped backward.
A figure appeared between the trees.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Dressed in black.
A wide-brimmed hat concealed most of his face.
Lena's blood turned cold.
It was the man from her vision.
Rowan moved in front of her.
“Who are you?”
The stranger didn't answer.
He simply stared at Lena.
Then he said her name.
“Lena.”
Her breath caught.
“You know me?”
The man's head tilted slightly.
“I knew you before the town buried you.”
Rowan's voice hardened.
“Stay away from her.”
The stranger looked at him.
“You still think you can protect her?”
Rowan's jaw tightened.
“I won't let you take her.”
A faint smile appeared beneath the man's shadowed face.
“I didn't come to take her.”
“Then why are you here?”
The man looked at Lena.
“To see if she remembered.”
Lena's pulse quickened.
“Remembered what?”
The stranger stepped backward.
“The truth.”
Then he disappeared into the trees.
Lena stared after him.
“Who was that?”
Rowan didn't answer.
She turned toward him.
“You know him.”
“Yes.”
“Who is he?”
Rowan looked away.
“I don't know if telling you would keep you alive.”
“That's not an answer.”
“It is the only one I have.”
Lena's frustration burned.
“Everyone in this town keeps deciding what I should know.”
Rowan looked at her.
“Because ten years ago, knowing the truth almost got you killed.”
Lena went still.
“Almost?”
He didn't respond.
Before she could press him, the church bell rang.
Three times.
Rowan's expression changed.
“Go back to the house.”
“Why?”
“Now.”
They returned to Ashford House.
But Lena couldn't stop thinking about the stranger.
Later that night, she stood at the bedroom window.
The cemetery was visible in the distance.
Her grave sat beyond the stone wall.
Then she saw someone standing beside it.
The man in black.
Lena's breath caught.
She leaned closer to the glass.
He stood perfectly still beside the grave bearing her name.
Then he slowly raised his head.
Even from that distance, Lena knew he was looking directly at her.
A smile appeared beneath his hat.
He lifted one hand.
Not waving.
Pointing.
Straight at her window.
Lena stepped backward.
Her heart pounded.
Then the man pointed toward her grave.
And Lena heard a voice inside her head.
Not his.
Not Rowan's.
Her own.
You were never supposed to survive.
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