Chapter 4:The Thing In The Storm

The door groaned as it pushed inward, the wind howling through the gap. Claire's breath hitched as the darkness beyond seemed to stretch into the house, swallowing the last flickers of firelight.

Ruth's grip on Claire's hand tightened. "Stay behind me."

Claire barely nodded, her heart hammering against her ribs. The storm roared outside, but beneath it—beneath the wind, the rain, the thunder—she heard it. A slow, deliberate breath. Something was there.

Ruth reached toward the mantle, fingers wrapping around the heavy iron poker by the fireplace. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Who's there?"

For a moment, nothing.

Then—a step.

A single, deliberate footstep onto the wooden floor.

Claire's pulse pounded in her ears. She wanted to run, to scream, but her body wouldn't move.

The dim light from the storm's distant lightning cast shifting shadows through the open