Silence. Then the smallest sound: a creak on the stairs that did not belong to the house.
The creak paused, as if confused.
I sat on the floor, back against the wall, listening. The wind played a low, unkind note through the chimney. And then — click. The last light died. Silence
When Darkness Dares, Move. Not because you aren't afraid. But because fear, when it freezes you, hands you over. And you belong to yourself.
The old clock read 11:57. Rain sheeted against the window, each drop a tiny fist demanding entry. The power had flickered twice already. Soon, the dark would come fully — not the gentle dark of bedtime, but the heavy, knowing dark that fills a house when every circuit fails. I sat on the floor, back against the wall, listening
My heart told me to freeze. But a deeper voice, older than fear, whispered four letters: WDDM.
I unbolted the door in one slow motion, stepped into the rain, and pulled it shut behind me. The cold was a sharp blessing. The dark outside was vast, but it was honest dark — sky and storm, not the small, waiting dark of a closed room. The last light died
Not wildly. Not loudly. But deliberately. I reached left, found the iron poker by the hearth. I stood, not crouched. I took three steps toward the hallway — not away from the stairs, but across the bottom of them, to the back door I had bolted at sunset.