flash
The scratch in the dirt wasn't from a bobcat. Caleb’s fingers hovered over the deep, jagged gouges in the mud right outside his porch. Three parallel lines, sliced deep into the earth, ending in a heavy, deliberate puncture. A claw mark. But the span of it was monstrous—far wider than the mother bobcat’s paw, wider even than any cougar that had ever stalked these woods. / Chapter 5 / 6

Chapter 5 - The Trap is Sprung

"We're not letting them die," Caleb said, his voice dropping to a hard, unyielding whisper.

"Caleb, the countdown has already started," Silas pleaded. "The charges are set at the canyon mouth. The structural collapse will trigger in two hours. We have to leave now!"

Before Caleb could answer, a horrific sound shattered the night. It wasn't just one screech this time. It was a chorus of them. Dozens of shadows slammed against the side of the cabin, the wooden walls groaning under the immense weight of multiple beasts. The Grave-Walkers had surrounded them.

The Hook: The windows shattered inward in an explosion of glass, and a massive, deformed paw reached through the dark, grabbing Silas by the throat.

"Silas!" Caleb screamed.

He fired both barrels of the shotgun into the window, blowing the creature backward into the snow. But another beast slammed against the front door, the wood splintering violently.

The mother bobcat leaped to her feet, snarling fiercely. She and her kitten stood guard at the broken window, slashing at any claw that tried to force its way inside.

"The basement!" Silas choked out, clutching his bleeding neck. "There's an old mining tunnel that leads out to the ridge! We have to blow the cabin to buy ourselves time!"

Caleb didn't hesitate. He grabbed the duffel bag of explosives from the table, primed the main timer for five minutes, and threw it into the center of the living room.

"Go! Go!" Caleb yelled, ushering Silas down the wooden basement stairs. He turned to call the bobcats, but the mother refused to move. She stood at the top of the stairs, her eyes locked onto Caleb’s. It wasn't a look of panic; it was a look of goodbye.

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The ink on the emergency audit report was barely dry when the secure terminal on my desk flashed a violent crimson. I hadn't slept in thirty-six hours, my eyes burning from staring at columns of ghost figures, duplicate invoices, and shell corporations linked to Dominic Rossi. But the red alert wasn’t from Rossi’s faction. It was an internal security flag originating from the estate’s main vault deep beneath the west wing.

The ink on the emergency audit report was barely dry when the secure ter...

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny diamonds on the marble, scattering the light from the chandeliers. The muffled laughter died instantly, replaced by a suffocating, heavy silence that crept outward from the grand staircase.

The glass shattered into a thousand tiny diamonds on the marble, scatter...

The heavy oak doors of my private study clicked shut behind us, locking out the clinical, terrifying silence of the kitchen. Evelyn Crane stood stiffly in front of my mahogany desk, her hands folded over her apron with the rigid precision of someone who had spent decades micromanaging every square inch of my estate. Behind her, Norah hovered near the doorway, clutching her clipboard like a shield.

The heavy oak doors of my private study clicked shut behind us, locking...

She slammed her body against the heavy oak basement door, knocking it shut from the outside. The deadbolt slid into place. She had locked them in to ensure they could escape while she held off the pack.

"No! No!" Caleb screamed, hammering his fists against the door as the sounds of a brutal animal war erupted in the cabin above.

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