Chapter 10
The cold settles in deeper the farther I get from the salon.
Not unbearable, just enough to keep me aware of it, the kind that seeps through layers slowly until it feels like it belongs there.
My breath drifts out in soft clouds in front of me, fading almost as quickly as they form, and I tuck my chin down into my scarf as I walk.
The street is quieter now. Not empty, but quieter in a way that feels different from inside.
The kind of quiet that stretches instead of wraps around you.
A few cars pass every so often, headlights sweeping across the pavement before disappearing again.
Most of the storefronts are dark, windows reflecting the streetlights back at themselves, making everything feel a little farther away than it actually is.
I like this part of the night. Not because it’s silent, but because it’s honest. There’s no rush, no pretending, no one trying to be something they’re not for a room full of people. It’s just…what’s left.
I walk with my hands tucked into my coat pockets, shoulders relaxed, my thoughts still half caught on the conversation with my mom. My sister getting the job. The excitement in her voice I can already hear even though I haven’t called her yet. I smile to myself. I’ll call her as soon as I get home.
She’s probably already planning how she’s going to decorate her new office, even if she won’t admit it yet. She always does that, gets ahead of herself in the best way, building something in her head before it even fully exists.
I step over a crack in the sidewalk and keep going, my boots hitting the pavement in a steady rhythm.
A car passes behind me. I don’t turn. There’s no reason to.
Still, something shifts. It’s subtle. Not a sound I can point to or a movement I can name, just a slight tightening in my chest, like my body noticed something before I did.
I slow half a step. Then shake my head at myself.
You’re overthinking.
It’s dark. It’s cold. Of course everything feels a little off.
I glance over my shoulder anyway. Just a quick look.
The street behind me stretches empty, the glow of the streetlight catching the edge of parked cars, the faint outline of buildings I just passed.
There’s no one there. No movement. Nothing that looks out of place.
See?
I turn back around, exhaling softly.
You’re fine.
I keep walking.
The feeling doesn’t go away entirely, but it settles into something quieter, something I can push aside instead of focus on.
I’ve felt it before, that little edge of unease that shows up without warning.
It doesn’t always mean something’s wrong.
Sometimes it just means I’m tired, or it’s too quiet, or my brain is trying to fill in space where there isn’t anything to fill.
It doesn’t have to be something. It’s probably nothing.
I focus on the rhythm of my steps, the sound of my breathing, the way the cold air bites just enough to keep me awake.
I walk a little slower without meaning to, my steps less about getting somewhere and more about moving through the space I’m in.
That feeling comes back. Stronger this time. Not sharp.
Just…present.
I frown slightly, my gaze shifting to the side, then forward again. It’s nothing. It has to be nothing. I glance over my shoulder again. Still nothing. No one following me. No one stepping out from anywhere. No movement that doesn’t make sense. My lips press together for a second.
You’re fine.
I turn back around. And then I hear footsteps. Behind me. Not loud. Not running. Just there. My stomach tightens. I don’t stop walking. I don’t speed up either. I just…listen.
One step.
Another.
Not matching mine exactly, but close enough to notice.
My heart picks up, a little faster, not panic, not yet, just awareness. It could be someone else heading the same way. It could be nothing.
Don’t jump to conclusions.
I slow slightly.
The footsteps behind me slow too.
That’s when it stops being nothing.
My breath catches, just for a second, and I turn, my movements careful, controlled, like I’m not sure what I’m going to see but I’m hoping it’s something easy to explain.
The street behind me looks empty again. Streetlight. Parked cars. Shadows stretching longer than they should. No one.
My brow furrows. That doesn’t make sense. I know what I heard. I stand there for a second longer than I should, my chest rising and falling a little faster now, my mind trying to make it fit into something logical. Maybe they turned a corner. Maybe they crossed the street.
Maybe I–
“Hey.” The voice comes from too close.
I barely have time to register it before something grabs my arm. My body reacts before my brain catches up, instinct snapping into place too late to stop anything. “Wait—” The word doesn’t even fully form.
Another shape moves in from the side.
Hands.
Too many hands.
“Don’t—”
There’s a sharp sting at my neck. Not like a cut. Not like anything I can place. Just sudden. Wrong.
My body jerks, my hand flying up instinctively, but it’s already happening, already spreading, something cold and heavy moving through me too fast to fight.
“What—” My voice slurs. My knees give. The world tilts.
I try to focus, to grab onto something, anything, but my thoughts slip, sliding out from under me like I can’t hold onto them.
“Get her.” A man’s voice.Close. Urgent.
My vision blurs, the streetlight above me stretching into something too bright, too far away. I try to breathe. My lungs don’t listen. My arms feel heavy. My fingers don’t close right.
This isn’t right.
I try to pull away, to move, to do anything, but my body doesn’t respond the way it should. It’s like I’m a step behind myself, like everything I tell it to do comes too late.
The last thing I see before everything goes dark is the shape of a van door sliding open.
Then…
Nothing.