Chapter 6
SIX
Constantly wondering if her imagination was playing tricks on her, Laney Prescott peered out of the window of her two-bedroom log cabin on the outskirts of Black Rock Falls.
It had seemed like a good idea to live here in summer, but now in winter, it seemed more isolated than ever.
The problem was she’d seen headlights behind her on her way home from work on Friday.
No one had passed her and it was as if someone had parked along the highway, and when she’d taken the track to her house, they’d stopped to watch her.
Her job as a social worker meant she came in contact with many different people, and some were more hostile than others.
Although she tried to help everyone, it wasn’t always possible to produce the outcome they expected.
The feeling of being watched had started over a week ago when she’d heard footsteps behind her on the walk to the coffee shop and turned to see nobody there.
Once inside and drinking her coffee, something brushed or touched her hair.
There had been a man close by, but when she turned around, he just looked at her and smiled.
Was she paranoid? Maybe, but she’d arranged for a contractor to drop by and see her about installing a security system.
Now sure that someone had followed her home, insecurity about the safety of her new home concerned her.
Maybe it was all in her mind, but the strange noises all night like someone dragging fingernails over a chalkboard had scared her.
She’d gotten up and walked around, peering out of windows, and seen nothing but snow falling hard.
She’d found herself living in a snow globe.
Laney tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
Eventually she got up and made herself a cup of hot chocolate.
The house should be warm, but steam escaped from her lips as she breathed on her way back to the bedroom.
Confused, she went to the thermostat on the wall in the hallway and discovered it had been turned down.
At this temperature, she couldn’t survive—not with her asthma.
She readjusted the thermostat and tried to recall when she’d first set it.
She remembered that it had been at the beginning of winter when the temperature changed suddenly and the little cabin was very cold inside.
Her stomach dropped considering the implications of a broken furnace.
Her savings had gone to the house and it would cost a fortune to replace the furnace.
Even repairs could be costly and she had only one wage coming in at the moment.
Maybe she’d need to take on a second job.
By the time she’d finished the beverage, her head was aching with worry. She took two Tylenol from the bottle beside her bed and closed her eyes. Trying to push away the worry of the furnace and the insistent strange noises that continued to rattle through the house, she eventually went to sleep.
In the morning, she woke to a warm house and sighed with relief.
She sat up in bed and checked her watch.
She’d slept through to ten. It was just as well she didn’t have to go to work today.
Laney pushed her feet into her slippers, turned to pull the blankets up over the bed, and froze.
Across the pillow on the other side of the queen-size bed were written the words I’ve been watching you sleep.
Terrified, she took a few steps backward and then peered around the bedroom.
Someone had gotten into her house and her phone was in the kitchen on the table with her purse.
She searched for anything she could use as a weapon.
She didn’t own a gun and the only thing she had in her bedroom was either a bedside table lamp or a hairbrush.
She pulled the plug from the power outlet and carrying the lamp in front of her with both hands, edged her way through the door and along the hallway looking both ways.
With trembling legs, she kept her back to the wall until she reached the kitchen.
It was empty and she could see her phone sitting exactly where she’d left it.
She ran the last few steps into the kitchen, put down the lamp, and grabbed up her phone.
She turned it on and her thumb went to dial 911 when a sound came from the mudroom.
A shadow filled the doorway, the phone slipped from her fingers, spun across the table out of reach, and then clattered to the floor.
Terrified and heart racing, Laney grabbed up the lamp and ran back along the hallway.
She could lock herself in the bathroom. Why had she closed her door?
Her sweaty palms slipped on the doorknob as she fought to open the door. Hurry, hurry, he’s coming.
Footsteps, slow and deliberate, came along the hallway.
A scream caught in her throat at the sight of a dark figure.
The door flew open and she staggered inside and ran around the bed.
Too late. In seconds, something dropped over her head.
The lamp slipped from her fingers as a cord tightened around her neck.
She tore at the cord squeezing the breath out of her, and her fingernails dug into leather gloves.
Black spots danced in front of her eyes and her lungs screamed for lack of air.
The room blurred and the bed came up fast as she tumbled over it.
Something hard pressed into her back and the pressure on her throat increased.
She tore at her neck as the room around her darkened. There was no escape.