Chapter Twenty: Hiding in the Shadows
The rain had lessened to a soft drizzle by the time Elena stopped running.
Her breath came in sharp gasps, her legs weak from exhaustion. She pressed herself against the damp bark of an old oak tree, the cold seeping through her clothes.
She had no idea where she was.
Somewhere deep in the woods, far from the farmhouse. But that didn't mean she was safe.
She clutched the box to her chest, her fingers aching from holding it too tightly. It was quiet now. The whispers had faded, but the air around it still felt… charged.
She needed to hide. To think.
Her eyes scanned the darkness until she spotted something—a small, abandoned cabin nestled between the trees. It looked like it had been forgotten for years, its wooden walls covered in ivy, the door barely hanging on its hinges.
It wasn't much. But it was somewhere.
She slipped inside, heart still hammering, and shut the door behind her.
A Name Lost to Time
The cabin smelled of damp wood and old dust. Moonlight filtered through the broken slats in the roof, casting long shadows across the room.
Elena ran a shaky hand through her wet hair and set the box down on a rotting table.
Why had Leon let her go?
He had her. He could've forced the box from her hands. But something about it had… unnerved him.
She swallowed, staring at the metal lock.
What are you?
She ran her fingers over the surface, and something cold prickled at her skin. It almost felt alive.
Then—her gaze caught something beneath the dust.
Faint engravings.
She wiped the surface clean with her sleeve, squinting as the moonlight revealed something carved into the wood.
A name.
But not hers.
And not Leon's.
The letters were old, barely legible, but she could make them out:
"R. V. Holloway."
Elena's stomach dropped.
Holloway.
Where had she heard that name before?
A memory surfaced—faint, buried.
The man in town. The old shopkeeper with the warning in his eyes.
"The past doesn't stay buried here, girl. Best not to go digging."
Her fingers trembled over the letters. Who was R. V. Holloway?
And what did they have to do with Leon?
Meanwhile…
Leon stood at the edge of the woods, watching the place where Elena had disappeared.
He should have taken the box.
He could have.
But when he touched it—something touched him back.
Something old. Something that should not be awake.
His jaw tightened. The way Elena had looked at him, the fear in her eyes—it had settled in his chest in a way he didn't like.
He let out a slow breath.
He needed to find her.
But this time…
He wouldn't just take the box.
He'd have to get her to trust him first.