I woke up tiredly. My body felt heavy, sluggish. I didn't have work for the next few days, but school was about to resume, and I had tutoring sessions lined up with the kids.
University was starting soon too.
Kasteil didn't come home last night. It was just me.
The realization settled over me slowly as I lay there staring at the ceiling. The room was quiet.
Maybe because the time I'd spent here had always been with him, I hadn't fully taken note of how isolated this place was. Tucked away from the main roads, surrounded by dense trees and snow-covered silence, the house felt like it existed in its own world. No neighbors. No streetlights. Just wind through the pines and the occasional creak of the old structure settling. In the daylight it had felt peaceful. In the dark, alone, it felt…scary as hell.
