LOVER OF THE DEAD

Chapter 5: The Ghost's Warning

Avriel could still feel the weight of Iver’s intense gaze on her long after he had vanished into the shadows. His words echoed in her mind, filling her with an unsettling mix of fear and intrigue. But beneath that, there was something else ,a strange feeling that tugged at her, binding her to this place in ways she couldn’t explain.

Determined to understand more, she spent the next day combing through the house, paying special attention to details she might have overlooked before. Old photographs, dusty books with yellowed pages, and faded letters tucked away in forgotten drawers, all remnants of lives that had once breathed within these walls. But none of it offered any answers about the man with those piercing, mismatched eyes.

By late evening, she was restless. Her curiosity gnawed at her, mixed with a growing frustration at the silence that seemed to fill every corner of the house. She could feel his presence, lingering and watchful, but he remained just out of reach, slipping through her fingers like mist.

"Iver Killian,"  she whispered, testing the name in the empty air. It was the first time she’d said it out loud, and the sound of it sent a chill down her spine. She didn’t know what she was expecting ,a reaction, maybe, or some sign that he was listening. But the room remained silent, and the only answer she received was her own voice echoing back to her.

She sighed, feeling foolish. Maybe she’d imagined the whole thing. But as she turned to leave, she caught a glimpse of movement in the reflection of a cracked mirror hanging on the wall. Her heart raced as she spun around, searching the dimly lit room for any sign of him.

Nothing. Just shadows.

Frustrated, she exhaled sharply, half to herself. "Fine, stay hidden then. Coward."

"What did you call me?"

The voice came from right behind her, low and dangerously calm. She froze, every nerve in her body alert as she slowly turned to find him standing just inches away, his mismatched eyes blazing with anger.

"You’re bolder than I thought," he murmured, his gaze sharp and unyielding. "But you’ve made a grave mistake."

For a moment, she was caught in his stare, her defiance wavering under the intensity of his presence. But she forced herself to meet his gaze, refusing to let him intimidate her. "Maybe I have. Or maybe you’re not as powerful as you think."

A flicker of surprise crossed his face, quickly masked by an icy smirk. "You have no idea what I’m capable of," he said, his voice a menacing whisper. He took a step closer, and the air around them grew colder, heavy with an almost tangible darkness. "This place is mine. Every shadow, every breath of air, it all answers to me."

"Then why are you still here?" she challenged, her voice barely a whisper. "Why do you linger in this empty, forgotten place?"

His eyes darkened, and she could see the flicker of something raw and painful beneath his anger, a glimpse of the torment that bound him here. "Some scars run too deep to heal," he said, his voice hollow and laced with bitterness. "And some debts… can never be repaid."

She opened her mouth to ask what he meant, but before she could speak, the floorboards beneath them began to creak, the walls groaning as if they were alive, twisting and contorting in response to his anger. Shadows flickered across the room, growing darker, sharper, until they seemed to press down on her from all sides.

Panic surged through her, and she took a step back, struggling to breathe under the weight of the darkness. "Iver… stop."

But he didn’t seem to hear her. His gaze was fixed on some distant memory, his expression twisted with pain and fury. The house shook around them, the very air crackling with an energy that felt wild, dangerous, and utterly beyond her control.

"Iver!" she shouted, her voice breaking through the storm of shadows that swirled around them.

At the sound of her voice, he blinked, the darkness receding as he turned to look at her, as if seeing her for the first time. For a moment, he seemed almost… vulnerable. But then his expression hardened, his gaze cold and distant once more.

"I am warning you for the 100th time now. You shouldn’t have come here," he said, his voice a harsh whisper. "Leave while you still can."

And then, just as suddenly as he’d appeared, he was gone, leaving her alone in the suffocating silence of the room. Her heart was pounding, her mind reeling from the encounter, but she knew one thing for certain:

She was no longer just an intruder in this house. She was a part of its story now ,a story that was darker and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined.

Avriel backed up, her pulse still racing as her eyes darted around the empty room, half-expecting him to reappear. But only the quiet shadows remained, deepening as the night settled over the house.

And somewhere in the darkness, she heard a faint whisper, barely audible but filled with a promise of something yet to come:

"You will never escape me, Avriel Abbott."