Chapter 11

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Monsters.

There are monsters in the woods.

Fear coils in the pit of my stomach and my chest feels like it's being compressed in a vise as I stumble through the dimly lit corridors, tumbling into furniture as I race for the safety of my room. Each step feels like an eternity, as every little noise makes me flinch and my muscles burn.

As I reach the top of the stairs, it"s hard to tell whether my lungs ache more than my legs or if it's the other way around.

Finally reaching my room, I dive beneath the covers like a hunted animal seeking refuge. The soft embrace of the blankets offers a fleeting sense of safety, but it's shattered when a sharp knock echoes through the room.

Pulling the duvet tighter around my body, I sit up.

Please.Please don't be monsters. Just be the groundskeeper. Please be Mr. Danvers.

I swallow, and it's like there's a rock lodged in my throat as the soft click of the door handle fills the room. The floorboards groan. The hinges of the old door creak. And finally…the groundskeeper pokes his head around the door.

My whole body trembles as I try not to crumple in on myself.

"I've got your medicine, Miss," he says, his voice low and gravelly. He holds out a glass of water in one hand, and nods to the pills in his other.

"Th-thank you," I stammer, still struggling to catch my breath. But the groundsman seems oblivious as he steps forward, placing the drink and the pills on my bedside table with detached efficiency.

My mind races, adrenaline still pumping through me as I try to come up with a new way to avoid taking the tablets. I reach for them, lifting them to my lips but a sudden crash reverberates from somewhere downstairs.

It's them.

My blood turns to ice as I freeze, clutching my pills in sweaty palms. They're inside the house.

The groundskeeper grumbles under his breath, sounding annoyed, before he heads for the door with heavy footsteps.

"What was that?" I say, my voice trembling with apprehension.

"Nothing for you to worry about, Miss," he replies as he disappears into the darkness beyond.

Alone once more, tales of spirits and hauntings flood my mind. But why does the thought of ghosts frighten me more than the very real danger that lurks outside?

With shaking hands, I push back the covers and rush to the window, peering out into the inky blackness of the night. Will I catch a glimpse of the creature that pursued me through the woods, or will it remain hidden in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike?

I'll see you later, he'd said. The words echo in my mind, more like a promise than a threat.

Unlocking the window, I reach out and open my hand, letting the pills fall into the overgrown weeds below before quickly closing it again. For once, I'm grateful for the locked windows, their sturdy frames offering a semblance of protection against the things that lurk outside. I eye my bedroom door warily. I wonder if there's some way to bar it shut because only Carver has a key.

Maybe…maybe it was never about keeping me in and more about keeping the monsters out.

I change into my nightgown and clamber back into bed, huddling beneath the covers. It feels like there's a storm gathering on the horizon, waiting to unleash its fury upon the unsuspecting world, and I'm in the eye of it.

My eyelids grow heavy and I finally succumb to exhaustion, and the darkness of sleep envelops me like a thick fog. But instead of the blissful oblivion I long for, my dreams are haunted by whispers.

Faint at first, like distant echoes through the corridors of my mind. I toss and turn, the weight of unseen eyes watching me from the darkness keeping me on edge. The hushed words are joined by hands.

Reaching for me, grabbing and pulling. Scratching. Biting into my skin as the whispers grow louder. More insistent and intense, growing and swelling until they seem to fill the room like a cacophony of voices all speaking at once.

And I scream.

As I stand in Ari's bedroom, my gaze sweeps over her fragile form before landing on the restless figures of my brothers. Mal is leaning with his arms crossed against the doorway to the bathroom while Jas perches on the end of the bed. They're eager, impatient even, to rush our plan, to push Ari further than she's ready for. The air is thick with tension and tinged with the bitterness of frustration.

Ari stirred earlier, her sleep restless and filled with screams, and I couldn't help but feel unease as she seemed to glimpse us through half-opened eyes. It's too soon for her to know of our presence. She's not ready.

I worry about the way she fled from Jas and Mal in the woods. The fear she must have felt. Did she hurt herself in her panicked flight?

Clenching my claws into fists I pace softly back and forth. Mal and Jas mean well, but their impatience could undo everything we've worked for. I understand their urgency, their need to see Ari safe and free, to have her with us to complete our little family.

But their impatience could jeopardise everything we've worked so hard to achieve. We must proceed with caution, or risk setting her progress back even further. Rushing her will only deepen the wounds already inflicted upon her fragile soul.

Ari shifts in her sleep, a small whimper escaping her lips, and a surge of protectiveness washes over me. She's ours to guard, ours to guide. We cannot afford to let her down.

"We need to be patient," I say quietly, yet my words carry the weight of conviction. "We must tread carefully if we are to earn her trust."

"You didn't hear her!" Jas cries back in a whisper. "She's so lonely my heart is breaking for her. I just wanted her to know she isn't alone."

Mal nods in agreement, his jaw set in determination, while Jas offers me wide, pleading eyes that beg me to understand.

And I get it, I do.

But just because Ari's lonely, it doesn't mean she's ready to accept that monsters are real. How could we expect her to understand that we want to protect and befriend her?

The others know that I'm right, I can see it in their eyes. We may be driven by different motivations, but our goal remains the same: to see Ari liberated from the darkness that threatens to consume her. So for now, we wait.

Only once she's free can we truly make her ours.