The Dark
Aviana
Looking over my shoulder as I make my way back to my cabin from yoga class, I can feel it—eyes on me, burning into my back. It’s not paranoia; it’s him. I know it.
“Nightshade, I know that’s you! Come out!” I call out, spinning around and scanning the tree line.
Before I can get another word out, Scarlet appears out of nowhere, and I nearly jump out of my skin.
“Who are you yelling for?” she asks, smirking like she knows something I don’t.
“No one,” I snap, shaking my head and trying to cover my irritation. “I thought I saw someone familiar.” I start walking again, hoping she’ll take the hint and leave me alone.
But of course, she doesn’t. “Are you headed back to the cabin too?” she chirps, falling into step beside me like we’re best friends.
“Yeah,” I mutter, already regretting answering her.
“I just need to grab a few things before my session with Cade,” she says, her voice dripping with some weird kind of excitement. “I’m hoping I can convince him I’m worthy of his touch.”
I stop dead in my tracks and glare at her. “Ugh, really, Scarlet? He’s not going to do that. You’re his patient . It’s against every policy imaginable for him to fraternize with you like that.”
She just shrugs, completely unfazed. “That doesn’t stop him from flirting with you,” she says, her tone laced with a hint of jealousy. “I see the way he looks at you. The way he touches you when he thinks no one’s watching.”
My stomach churns at her words, but I refuse to let her see it. “Whatever, Scarlet. It’s not like that between us,” I snap, picking up my pace.
“Good,” she fires back, her voice smug. “Because I want to make him mine.”
I whip around and glare at her one last time. “Go for it,” I say flatly before turning away, leaving her in my dust as I stride faster toward my cabin. The irritation bubbles under my skin, the mix of her nonsense and the feeling of being watched gnawing at me. Tonight can’t come fast enough for when I am alone in my room without her hovering or blubbering about Cade.
***
Scarlet finally left, but not before making sure every girl in the cabin heard about her grand plan to seduce Cade. I rolled my eyes so hard I thought they might get stuck. She thrives on drama, and I swear she’s auditioning for a soap opera no one’s watching.
Now, sitting alone in my room, the quiet hum of the air conditioning and the faint buzz of the table lamp are my only companions. It’s peaceful, but not in the way that soothes. It’s the kind of quiet that leaves too much room for thoughts you’d rather not have.
I grab my journal and start jotting down everything about my time here at camp—the good, the bad, and the Scarlet. God, I wish I had cell service. A call with Claire and Hannah right now would be perfect . We’d have an absolute field day dissecting the antics in this cabin, and Scarlet would definitely be the headliner. I can almost hear their laughter, Claire’s sharp wit slicing through Scarlet’s nonsense, Hannah’s giggles chiming in between bites of popcorn.
I sigh, tapping my pen against the journal. Without Claire and Hannah, I’m left to deal with this circus of a camp alone, but at least writing it all down gives me something to hold onto—something solid in the midst of all this chaos. The scratch of the pen on paper is almost soothing, a rhythm that pulls me away from the noise in my head.
But then I hear it—a soft, deliberate tapping. It’s faint at first, easy to ignore, but it doesn’t stop. My hand freezes mid-word, the pen hovering over the page. That wasn’t me.
Setting the journal down at the foot of my bed, I pull my blanket tighter around me, its warmth doing little to calm the chill creeping up my spine. My feet move almost on their own toward the window, each step slow, cautious. The tapping continues, irregular but insistent, like a knock too timid to demand attention but too deliberate to dismiss.
I reach the window and hesitate, my breath fogging the glass as I lean closer. With a deep inhale, I pull back the curtain in one quick motion. My heart skips, my chest tightening as I see it—a note stuck to the outside of the window, fluttering slightly in the breeze.
My fingers tremble as I slide the window up just enough to grab the note. The paper feels cold and damp, the ink smudged slightly but still readable:
Walk the trail from your cabin. When you near the end, veer off to the left and walk 15 paces until you dead-end at a large oak tree. Meet me there now.
I stare at the note, my pulse pounding in my ears. The air feels heavier, charged with something I can’t name. My eyes dart toward the dark woods just beyond the cabin. He’s out there, waiting.
***
Past
?? Age 15
?? Everyone in the house was fast asleep—except me. The quiet was thick, the kind that presses against your ears and makes every sound louder. I slipped out of bed, careful not to let the creaky floorboards give me away, and crept down the stairs. My heart raced, but I couldn’t resist. I wanted to talk to Ryan. I needed to hear his voice, to feel the pull between us that seemed to make everything else fade.
When I reached his door, I hesitated. It was closed. The last time I walked in unannounced, I’d found him surrounded by a dozen computers, his focus intense, and he practically yelled at me, his words sharp as a whip. “Never come in when the door is closed,” he’d said, his voice cold, even though there was something beneath it I couldn’t quite understand.
I stood there for a moment, my hand hovering over the doorknob. Part of me wanted to barge in anyway, but the memory of his words kept me rooted in place. With a sigh, I turned away, disappointment settling heavy in my chest.
Outside, the night air was cool, brushing against my skin as I made my way toward the barn. The moonlight bathed everything in silver, casting long shadows that seemed to shift and sway as I walked. The barn was my haven, a place where I could spill every thought, every secret, and Blaze—my steady, unwavering companion—would just listen.
But as I drew closer, I froze. The barn door was ajar, a sliver of golden light spilling out into the night. I blinked, unsure if I was seeing things, but no—someone was there. My breath hitched, and a cold prickle ran down my spine. Instinct whispered for me to turn back, to leave and pretend I hadn’t seen a thing. But curiosity—or maybe something more reckless—pushed me forward.
I hesitated at the threshold, the light inside casting eerie shadows across the walls. My pulse thundered in my ears. Who could be out here at this hour? And why? I stepped in, the familiar scent of hay and leather mingling with something sharper—something that didn’t belong. The air felt heavy, charged with something I couldn’t name. Blaze let out a soft snort from his stall, but even he seemed tense, as if he, too, sensed the shift.
“Hello?” My voice was barely above a whisper, trembling as I took another step. The silence stretched, and my instincts screamed at me to run. But I couldn’t. Not yet.
A hand clamped over my mouth, silencing the scream that tried to claw its way out of my throat. Hot, ragged breaths brushed against my neck, sending icy tendrils of fear down my spine. A low, mocking voice whispered, close enough to feel the vibration of each word.
“Hello, Little Screamer. Can you promise me something? Promise you won’t scream if I let go.”
I froze, my heart pounding so loudly I thought it might give me away. My mind raced—Liam. He was supposed to be in bed, asleep. His door had been shut tight, and I could’ve sworn I’d heard his deep snores as I passed by. But now…now he was here, his presence pressing against me like a dark shadow I couldn’t escape.
“Nod your head, baby girl,” he murmured, his voice a poisonous mix of charm and menace. “Let me know if you understand. Because if you scream…” His words trailed off, but the threat in them was sharp and clear. “I’ll punish you.”
My body shook as I nodded quickly, desperate for him to take his clammy, foul-smelling hand off my face. Every nerve in my body screamed at me to run, to fight, to do anything but stand here nodding. But I couldn’t risk it—not yet.
Slowly, he lifted his hand from my mouth, only to snake his arm around my waist. Before I could react, he spun me around and slammed me against the nearest stall door. The wood rattled behind me, the force knocking the air from my lungs. Blaze, in the next stall, let out a sharp whinny, his uneasiness mirroring my own.
“It’s past your bedtime, Little Screamer,” Liam drawled, his voice low and taunting. “What are you doing out here?”
“I, uh… I came to sit with Blaze,” I stammered, my voice trembling as I avoided his piercing gaze.
“Blaze is a big boy, baby girl,” he said, his lips twisting into a smirk. “He can take care of himself. Funny, though—you didn’t want to help the day he was delivered, but now you’re out here every chance you get. Why is that?”
I opened my mouth, unsure how to respond, but he didn’t give me the chance. His smirk widened as he continued. “How about I show you how to tend to his feet? That way, you can take him for walks or even a ride.”
My heart skipped at the suggestion, a flicker of hope breaking through the tension. “You’d let me do that?” I asked hesitantly.
“You don’t need my permission, Little Screamer,” he said, his tone laced with something I couldn’t quite place. “Do whatever you want. But stay here and don’t move.”
With that, he turned away and entered Blaze’s stall, his movements deliberate. Blaze snorted and tossed his head as Liam grabbed his lead, tying him up in the center of the barn. The hollow clink of metal against wood echoed through the space, and I stood frozen, torn between dread and confusion as I watched him prepare to “teach” me something I wasn’t sure I wanted to learn.
“Come here, Little Screamer,” Liam said, his voice dripping with something that made my stomach turn.
“Do you really have to keep calling me that?” I snapped, trying to mask the unease curling in my chest with annoyance.
“It’s better than what my brother calls you when you’re not around,” he shot back, a smirk tugging at his lips.
I froze, narrowing my eyes. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Something too lovey-dovey to repeat,” he sneered. “Makes the bile rise in my throat just thinking about it. You really are wrapped around his finger, aren’t you?”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about, Liam,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Ryan and I are just friends.”
He let out a dark chuckle, stepping closer. “Friends? You expect me to believe that? You both look a hell of a lot cozier than just friends. I see the way he looks at you.”
“You’re delusional,” I shot back, taking a step away. “You’re just jealous because you can’t have what we have. You already ruined that on Halloween.” The words came out sharper than I intended, but I didn’t care.
His smirk twisted into something darker, more dangerous. Before I could register the shift in his expression, he was on me. His hands were rough, grabbing me like I was nothing more than an object to be moved.
“Liam—stop!” My voice barely broke the silence, a breathless gasp as he lifted me and threw me into Blaze’s stall, my body crashing onto the hard ground. The scent of hay and sweat hit me, sharp and suffocating, but it was nothing compared to the chaos swirling in my mind. I tried to fight him, to push him off, but his grip was unyielding, his hands like iron around my wrists, holding me down with terrifying strength.
My shirt tore with a obscene rip before I could even catch my breath. My heart thundered in my chest, panic surging through my veins. Blaze shuffled nervously nearby, his hooves clanging against the floor, but the barn felt suffocatingly silent, my screams trapped in my throat.
“I don’t need to have whatever it is you and Ryan think you have,” Liam hissed, his voice dripping with venom. “Because I can take what’s mine whenever I damn well please. And don’t fool yourself—you were always going to be mine.”
My stomach churned, but he leaned in closer, his hand massaging itself over my breast while his words slithered into my ears like poison. “From the moment you opened that sweet little mouth of yours, I knew. I knew I’d make you mine for however long you’re here. Every second. Every breath. You belong to me.”
I tried to move, but his eyes locked onto mine, dark and unrelenting. He smiled—a twisted, mocking thing that made my skin crawl. “And when you hit legal age?” he continued, his tone shifting into something almost sing-song, but no less cruel. “I’ll tell my parents we’ve always had a thing for each other. That it’s only natural we’d end up together. Hell, I’ll even ask their permission to marry you. They’ll love it. They’ll think it’s sweet.”
His words cut through the air like a blade, each one heavier than the last. “You were always going to be mine. You just didn’t know it yet.”
“Get off of me, Liam! You’re hurting me!” I gasped, the words barely leaving my lips as the weight of his presence pressed down on me.
“No, Little Screamer,” he growled, his voice dripping with cruel amusement. “I haven’t even hurt you yet.”
And with that, he crushed his lips against mine, forceful and unyielding. His hand tangled in my hair, yanking my head back to hold me in place, while his other hand, merciless, roamed from my breast to the waistband of my lounge pants.
The moment he pulled back, I gasped for breath, but he was already on his feet, jumping away and leaving me breathless in the stall. This was my chance. I bolted for the door, desperate to escape.
But before I could even make it out of the barn, I heard his footsteps—quick and heavy. And then, the sharp glint of pruning scissors flashed in front of me.
“Liam!!” I cried, my heart racing.
“Ahhh, there’s my Little Screamer,” he whispered, his voice now dark with a twisted kind of pleasure. “Hold still for me and I won’t cut you up.” he remarks with a grin as he starts to cut my pants off of me.