Chapter 7-Morning Shadows
208 Words
The sun came up, but I felt tired and weak. My eyes burned from the sleepless night, and my ankle throbbed with a dull, familiar ache. I moved slowly, every step feeling heavier than the last. The house was too quiet, the kind of quiet that made you listen for danger.
When I went to the kitchen, my stepmother looked at me with anger.
“You look terrible. Like a curse on this house,” she said.
I kept my eyes down.
She did not slap me this time. Instead, she smiled a little.
“Get ready,” she said. “Tonight is the big event. All the rich people will be there. You must look good. And listen—if you say even one word out there, you are dead.”
She walked away, humming softly to herself, pleased with the power she held. Tonight mattered to her—it was her chance to shine, to show off the perfect life she had built from lies.
The event came once a year. Everyone wore pretty clothes and fake smiles. My stepmother wanted to show she had a perfect family.
But I knew the truth.
Behind the smiles, the house was rotting.
And maybe…the stalker knew it too.
- Writer
