Eyes of the Wendigo

14 -

The edges of reality were starting to blur, softening like the snowdrifts that piled up against Sarah's cabin, suffocating the small building in an icy grip. The wind outside howled like a distant scream, rattling the windows and shaking the walls, but Sarah barely noticed anymore. Her world had become confined to the dimly lit corners of her cabin, where shadows loomed large, whispering secrets she couldn't quite grasp.

She hadn't left the house in days, maybe longer. Time had lost its meaning. The only thing that mattered was Rob—finding out what had happened to him, understanding the cryptic fragments he had left behind. Her journal had become her constant companion, the pages filled with frantic scrawls of her thoughts, fears, and the suspicions that now consumed her every waking moment.

They're all in on it.
Elias knows more than he's letting on.
Rob was right. There's something happening in the village, and Elias is at the center of it.

Sarah sat at the small wooden table, her fingers gripping a worn photograph she had discovered in the attic earlier that morning. It had been buried in a box of old memories, hidden among the clutter of years gone by. At first glance, it had seemed like nothing—a simple picture of Rob from years ago, long before the darkness had taken hold of their lives. But it was the figure standing next to Rob in the photograph that made her heart pound and her breath catch in her throat.

It was Elias.

At least, it looked like Elias. The man in the photograph was younger, his hair darker, his face softer, but the resemblance was undeniable. He stood next to Rob, smiling like they were the best of friends, as though they had known each other their entire lives. But Sarah knew that wasn't possible. Rob had never mentioned Elias before they moved to White Pines. In fact, he had never mentioned anyone from his past life who looked even remotely like Elias.

She stared at the photograph, her mind racing, her heart pounding in her chest. How could this be? Why would Rob be in a picture with Elias, years before they had ever come to this village? Was it a coincidence? Or had Elias been involved in Rob's life long before either of them had realized?

He's been manipulating us from the beginning, Sarah thought, her hands trembling as she set the photograph down on the table. He's been watching us, controlling us. Even Rob.

The idea lodged itself in her mind, growing like a seed of doubt that spread its roots through her every thought. It all made sense now—why Rob had become so paranoid, why he had started writing those strange entries in his journal, why he had been convinced that someone was watching him. Elias had been manipulating Rob, twisting his thoughts, driving him to madness. And now, he was doing the same to her.

Sarah's breath came in shallow, ragged gasps as she stood from the table, her legs trembling beneath her. She stumbled toward the small bookshelf in the corner of the room, her eyes wild, searching for the journal she had hidden there days ago. She needed to see it again—Rob's words, his warnings. She needed to understand what had been happening to him, what Elias had done to him.

Her fingers found the worn leather cover, and she yanked the journal from the shelf, her hands shaking as she flipped through the pages. Rob's handwriting was frantic, uneven, the letters scrawled in a way that made it difficult to read. But Sarah had read it so many times that she knew the words by heart now.

"They're watching. I don't know who I can trust. Something is wrong with the village. Something is inside them."

Her eyes scanned the lines, her heart racing. Rob had been trying to warn her, trying to tell her what was happening. But she hadn't listened. She had been too consumed by her own grief, too blinded by her love for him to see the truth.