The Whistler In The Night

Chapter 17

It's been two days since Kayla's death. I stood by the window of the cabin, staring out into the vast white landscape of snow. The cold bit through the walls of the cabin, seeping into my bones, but I wasn't really feeling it. My mind was too clouded by grief, anger, and confusion. The icy wind whistled outside as if echoing my swirling thoughts.

As I continued to stare, I suddenly saw something out there in the snow. A figure. At first, I couldn't make out who it was, but as it got closer, I recognized him. It was him—the man who'd haunted my nightmares and now my reality. But something was different this time. He wasn't dressed in his usual black clothes. He was wearing all white: a pristine white suit with a white hat, blending almost too perfectly with the snowy background. His slow, deliberate steps crunched the snow beneath him, and that damn smile was still on his face.

My heart raced. I had to know what he wanted. Rage surged inside me, overpowering the fear. I ran to the door and flung it open, the cold air hitting my face like a slap. I marched out toward him, the snow crunching under my boots.

"What do you want from me?" I shouted at him, my voice breaking with a mix of anger and desperation. "Why did you kill my sister, you fucking monster?!"

He just stood there, a few feet away, smiling. That eerie, unsettling smile. His eyes gleamed as they met mine, and then he spoke, his voice like a cold whisper carried by the wind.

"I want you," he said, his smile widening. "Your soul."

Before I could react, his eyes turned a blinding white, and suddenly he began to levitate, his feet leaving the ground effortlessly. I felt a force slam me down into the snow. I looked at my arms—they were bleeding. Deep cuts had appeared all over my skin, but I hadn't even felt them happen. I tried to move, to scream, but my body was paralyzed. The snow beneath me turned crimson as blood poured from me.

He floated above me, his presence like a dark cloud blocking out everything else. Pain shot through my entire body, but this pain was different. It felt like my insides were being torn apart, like he was ripping my very soul from me. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. My vision blurred as I watched him hovering above me, his hollow eyes staring into mine.

Then, just as I thought it was the end, I woke up.

I was lying in bed, Scarlet beside me, still fast asleep. My body was drenched in sweat, and my heart was pounding so hard I thought it might burst out of my chest. It had been a nightmare. Another one of those damn nightmares. But this time, it felt... different. It felt more real. Too real.

I sat up, rubbing my face, trying to shake the feeling of cold and pain. But I couldn't forget what he said. He wants my soul. This wasn't just a nightmare. It was a message.

The room was dark, but a faint sound reached my ears—the unmistakable melody of a piano playing. My blood turned cold. That melody. It was his melody.

I quietly got out of bed and left the room. In the center of the cabin, there it was. A piano that hadn't been there before. And sitting in front of it, playing that haunting rhyme, was the man. This time, he wasn't wearing white. He was dressed in his usual black, his eyes dark and hollow.

I took a slow step toward him, my body trembling with fear and rage. But as I neared him, the ground beneath me seemed to fall away. I felt like I was plummeting, falling through darkness. I tried to scream, but no sound came out.

Then, just like that, I jolted awake again.

I was back in bed, gasping for air. It was another nightmare. The lines between reality and dream were blurring, and I didn't know how much more I could take.