Brielle lay on the cabin floor, wrapped in the old plaid blanket, eyes fixed on the boards that separated her from whatever waited beneath. The fire had died to a nest of smoldering ash; the room held only the faint red glow of dying embers and the cold that had crept back in during the night. She had not moved since the last knock, had not dared to breathe too deeply, as though any sound she made might answer the one that had asked to be let in.
