Back at the abandoned settlement. I had not slept properly since we moved into the abandoned settlement.
Every night, I woke at the smallest sound.
A branch breaking.
Leaves moving.
A wolf howling somewhere beyond the trees.
Sometimes I would sit beside the window and stare into the darkness, wondering if the stranger who had marked our door was still watching us.
The three deep claw marks were still there.
Lydia wanted to remove them or shape them into something else.
I refused.
“Why?” she asked one morning.
“Because whoever made them wanted us to see them, probably as a warning.”
Mara looked at the door. “Maybe that is exactly why we should leave.”
I looked down at Derek, who was sleeping against my chest. “We cannot keep running every time something scares us.”
Lydia sighed
