Chapter 45: Waking Alone

Finn

Cold. Empty. The sheets flowed over my fingers, void of all body heat. My hand traveled to the pillow. There was an indentation but it was cool. No one had been there for hours.  

I reached further across the bed and all I felt was an empty indentation in the mattress. Sweat trickled down my spine and my heart sped up. I threw my covers off and looked around the room. Everything was still. There wasn’t a breath of air beside my own, and I was holding it.

“Vivian?” My voice rang out, bouncing unanswered off the walls.

Silence. The cottage was completely empty.

No sounds of Vivian humming in the kitchen, no snipping of her shears in the garden, no crumpling of book pages turning.

I grabbed a robe and hurried through the cottage, the creaking floorboards under my bare feet the only sound.

I popped my head into the spare bedroom. My heart rate skyrocketed. I raced downstairs and checked the kitchen and living room, rubbing my clammy palms on my robe.