Chapter 10
Shelly spun around—
heart in her throat, breath caught somewhere between a gasp and a scream.
He stood there.
Motionless.
Silent.
Like he had been waiting there forever, as if time moved differently for him.
Andy.
But it wasn’t the Andy she knew.
Not the quiet man with sad eyes and careful words.
This Andy looked like something cracked open and let the forest inside.
Something wild lived behind his eyes now—ancient, watching, unblinking.
She felt it before she understood it.
The weight in the room shifted.
Heavy. Slow. Like gravity thickened.
A dull throb bloomed behind her eyes—too sudden, too sharp to ignore.
Her knees wobbled slightly under the pressure. Her body recognized something her mind didn’t.
Still, she couldn’t look away.
Their eyes locked, and in that moment, the cold that had wrapped itself around her spine evaporated.
Not warmth.
Not comfort.
Just… the absence of fear.
And that was what terrified her most.