Heartstrings

Night at the Inn (Excerpt)

Alice

Alice turned the lampshade off.

She rolled to her side and squeezed one of the pillows to her chest. She could only hear her own breathing. Besides that, the inn was silent still.

She willed herself to sleep. For a moment, her eyelids were growing heavy. She could feel herself drifting away.

Tick tock.

Her eyes flew open.

Tick tock.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Tick tock.

She tossed and turned. Now praying for sleep.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

She groaned. She thought the grandfather clock in the hall was broken.

That damn junk decides to work now!

She lets out another groan and pushes herself to a seating position instead. She really needs the sleep tonight. She has an early day tomorrow. If she doesn't get a job tomorrow, she'll be living in her car for the next month.

However, thoughts about jobs dissipated as the wind gusted through her window. Her heart jumped as the cold wind spread throughout her bedroom.

The curtains swayed, parting down the middle, and giving way to the cloudy night outside.

Alice fiddled with the ruffled sleeves of her nightgown. She was pretty sure she locked the window before going to bed.

A flock of autumn leaves drifted in as a shadow flew past her window.

Her heart leaped to her throat. She was on the second floor, so it couldn't have been someone passing the street.

Alice mustered the courage to get off the bed and took a few steps toward the window. She did a quick work on the locks, making sure it was secured this time.

She was about to draw the curtains, but she felt eyes on her. She squinted at the sycamore tree, surveying every gnarly branch. At the farthest branch is some sort of shadow, hunching and staring directly at him with big red eyes.

Her blood ran cold. She jumped away from the window, her heart racing now.

She put a hand over her chest and struggled to calm herself down. Maybe it's nothing. A lot of people thought they saw something in the dark.

Read the rest of story in my Inkitt acc!