The Whistler In The Night

Chapter 19

The morning had started peacefully—almost deceptively so. No nightmares, no haunting piano music, no shadowy figures lurking in the corner of my vision. Just the sound of Scarlet's steady breathing next to me, her head resting on my chest as I drifted in and out of sleep. For the first time in days, I felt some semblance of calm, as though the horrors of the past weeks were finally behind us.

But it didn't last.

A knock at the door shattered the stillness. I jolted awake, careful not to disturb Scarlet. I didn't want her to wake up just yet; she needed rest after everything we had been through. I slipped out of bed and made my way to the door. The knock was so faint that at first, I wondered if I'd imagined it. But when I opened the door, I found a little girl standing in the snow, no older than ten. Her hair was wild, tangled with ice, and her pale skin seemed almost translucent under the gray sky. She said nothing, just held out a letter with shaking hands.

I hesitated, staring at her for a moment. Her eyes were wide, filled with an unsettling emptiness, as though she knew things no child should know. I reached out and took the letter. Before I could say a word, she turned and ran, her footsteps barely leaving a trace in the snow. Within moments, she disappeared into the white void, leaving me standing there, confused and uneasy.

I looked down at the letter in my hands, my heart racing. There was something off about the whole thing, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Still groggy from the lack of sleep, I made my way to the kitchen and dropped the letter on the table. I was too exhausted to deal with whatever it was right now. I figured I'd look at it later. For now, all I wanted was to be with Scarlet, to hold her close and feel safe, if only for a little longer.

I crawled back into bed, pulling Scarlet into my arms. She stirred slightly but didn't wake up. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift back to sleep for another hour. When we finally woke up, the sun had climbed higher in the sky, casting a soft, wintery glow into the room. Everything seemed so peaceful that, for a moment, I forgot about the letter, the nightmares, and the man who had been haunting us.

But then I remembered.

"I got something earlier," I said, sitting up. "A letter. A little girl dropped it off."

Scarlet blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up next to me. "A letter? From who?"

"I don't know," I said, standing up and grabbing it from the kitchen table. "But it didn't feel right. The girl who gave it to me... something about her wasn't normal."

Scarlet's expression grew tense, and I could tell she was bracing for the worst. I sat down beside her and slowly opened the envelope. My heart sank the moment I saw the words written on the page.

Run away. Run fast. I'm watching. Run before I come.

At the bottom, there was a single letter, scrawled in a jagged, terrifying font: L.

Scarlet gasped, her face draining of color as she read the message over my shoulder. "It's him," she whispered, her voice trembling. "He's coming."

I wanted to brush it off, to say that it was some sick prank, but deep down, I knew better. We had been dealing with too much—too many strange, inexplicable events—for this to be anything less than another one of his threats. But before I could even begin to process what the letter meant, something far worse happened.

The cabin went up in flames.

It started as a faint smell of smoke. At first, I thought maybe it was the fireplace acting up, but then the air thickened with a choking, acrid scent. I jumped up from the couch, eyes widening as the first tendrils of fire licked up the walls, spreading faster than I could comprehend. Within seconds, the entire room was engulfed in smoke and flames.

"Scarlet!" I screamed, running toward her. She was coughing, her eyes wide with fear as she tried to make sense of what was happening. I grabbed her arm, pulling her toward the door, but when I reached for the handle, it wouldn't budge.

The door was stuck. We were trapped.

Panic surged through me as I tried to force the door open, but it wouldn't give. The flames were closing in, and I could barely see through the thick smoke. Scarlet was coughing uncontrollably now, her face pale, her movements sluggish. I knew I had to get us out, but nothing was working. I ran to the window, hoping to break it, but something—some invisible force—was keeping it sealed shut.

Through the thick haze, I saw him. L. He was standing outside the cabin, just beyond the window, smiling that same twisted, haunting smile. His eyes were fixed on me, and he waved slowly, mockingly. He wanted us to die here. He wanted to trap us in this hell.

Scarlet collapsed to the floor, unconscious from the smoke. My heart pounded as I ran back to her, covering my mouth and nose with my shirt to try and protect myself from the smoke. I grabbed her limp body, pulling her toward the door again, but it still wouldn't open.

Desperation clawed at me. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife I could find, hoping to pry the door open. The flames were getting closer now, the heat unbearable. I stabbed the knife into the doorframe, using all my strength to force it open. The wood cracked and splintered, and finally—finally—the door gave way.

I dragged Scarlet out of the cabin and collapsed into the snow, gasping for air. The cold bit into my skin, but I didn't care. I needed to get her to safety. I gently shook her, trying to wake her up. My hands were trembling with fear and exhaustion.

"Scarlet, please," I whispered. "Please wake up."

For a moment, I thought I'd lost her. But then, slowly, her eyes fluttered open. She coughed weakly, her voice barely a whisper. "What... what happened?"

"We're safe," I said, my voice shaking with relief. "We're safe. But the cabin... it's gone."

She sat up slowly, looking around at the burning wreckage behind us. There was nothing left but smoke and ash. The only thing left standing was the eerie silhouette of L in the distance, still watching us, still smiling.

We had nothing left. No cabin. No phones. No car. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere, with a fucking monster who wanted my soul.

And now, there was nowhere left to run.