I’d listened and locked my doors the moment Nick was off my porch. I’ve never heard Pack bark like that, never had to practically hold her back and pick her up to bring her inside. And the way Nick was so determined to find what it was after…
“I’ll tell you. Just not tonight…”
The words echo in my head. It bothers me enough that I wonder if he’s running from some crime syndicate and that’s why he moves around so much.
That thought should be enough to make me tell him this isn’t working.
And yet, I’m not.
He’d called when he got home. I could tell he was trying really hard to seem like everything was fine, but something is up. Still, he smiled and seemed to relax once he was slouched on his couch.
I wish he’d stayed.
After hanging up, I finally changed out of my work outfit and ate the sandwich Chester made earlier. Pack has settled on her usual spot, Oreo relaxing on the back of the couch with her tail flicking Pack on the nose.
I want to know what Pack saw out there.
My oversized sweatshirt bunches around my waist as I use both hands to hold the warm cup of cocoa and stand in front of the window, peering out of it as if the thing that was there earlier might still be lingering. The small heater beneath my window is all I have on, and truly, it isn’t enough to combat the drafty chill that makes its way through the walls of this house, especially since the frost seems to have come early tonight.
Something about it is comforting. As weird as that sounds, it’s calming my nerves. Or maybe it’s the shot of Kahlua I put in my hot chocolate that’s helping. Either way, I no longer hear my heartbeat in my ears, and that’s something.
Even on my close-open shifts, I’ve never missed a sunrise on the jetty.
As I stare out the old window, I squint at the ice seeming to grow from the corners of the glass panes. It creeps and spreads until it’s entirely frosted over. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen ice act like this, not here anyway. And the quickness in which it’s expanding…
Something moves outside, a shadow sweeping by in the moonlight.
My first instinct is to back away, but after the night I’ve had, I’m curious.
Not brave, and probably stupid.
Even so, I don’t move. I’m stuck in front of this window.
Pack puffs from her bed on the couch. It’s a warning huff that tells me my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me. Though, she doesn’t stand or pick her head up, and that reassures me enough that maybe I’m safe. Maybe this isn’t the thing that scared Nick so much that he couldn’t stay.
I take a step closer to the window, breasts nearly brushing against the panes. I swear, the shadow looks like a hand, and that sounds completely crazy, but I can’t see anything else.
I reach out and slowly press my hand against the cold glass, palm to palm with the shadow on the other side. Frost crystallizes around my fingertips. It doesn’t scare me, doesn’t make me want to run.
I’m settled in this spot as the ice thickens and grows. From pane to pane. Spreading like fire.
An unfamiliar feeling works its way through my gut before eventually moving down my arms and thighs. It’s restless and nervous, warm but skittish.
I have to be dreaming.
Because this isn’t real.
This is North’s antics. Island folklore.
Fiction.
My reflection ripples. I blink as I blow out a breath, and as I do, my heart jumps at the word suddenly written on the window.
Hi.
I jump back, tripping over the couch. My hot chocolate spills over my shirt and down my bare leg. The lamp on the side table wobbles. I go to grab it with my free hand, but it falls onto the floor, lampshade askew. The sudden light blinds me. I wince and shut my eyes tight as I pick it up. Though, even when it’s safely back on the table, I still can’t see straight.
It takes me a beat to blink away the light. Pack circles my legs to make sure I’m okay, and I bend down to give her a reassuring pet.
