The house stood as a silent witness to the breaking dawn, its pillars casting long, distorted shadows across the lawn like the fingers of a giant reaching for the forest. I was trembling so violently that my fur literally rattled against my skin, a rhythmic, frantic sound that mirrored the terror still clawing at my throat. I didn't care that the damp, freezing grass was clinging to my paws or that my amber and silver coat was a tangled mess of pine needles and dried leaves. All I could feel was the lingering, greasy sensation of those eyes from the woods, and all I could hear was that soul-crushing, hollow chuckle that had chased me all the way back to the clearing.
When I saw them standing there on the porch, looking like two statues, I didn't hesitate. I didn't think about the strangen
