I heard their voices first.

“They didn’t mean to. How could they know any better?”

“That won’t change anything. We have to do something. If it followed them this far, it will follow them here.”

“But there’s no way to kill it.”

I opened my eyes but stayed silent. I was laying on the floor. All I could see was the edge of my blanket, the orange firelight, shadows, and the feet of the four sisters. They moved only a little as they spoke.

“We can hide.”

“Not all winter. And the ward can only protect us while we’re inside.”

My ears strained in the short silence, pulling me further away from sleep.

Stolen story; please report.

“We’ll have to tell them to leave.”

My heart beat faster. The sound of it in my ears almost drowned out what was being said.

“How far do you think they’d get before they’re caught? And once they are, what happens then? It will still be hungry.”

My body jerked with fear.

The sisters fell silent. Mercy came over.

“Anna?” she whispered.

I realized she had been the one who’d said we would have to leave. Mercy, who I thought was the nicest of them all.

I sat up and looked at her.

She offered me a sad smile that never reached her eyes. “Did our talking wake you up?”

I opened my mouth, but my fear was more desperate than my answer. “Will it find us?”

The fire cracked loud in the silence.

Tace answered, “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s hungry.”

[https://i.imgur.com/f011ZNa.jpg]

A sliver of blue-purple light shone through the crack between my curtains. I sat up in my cot and scooted closer to the window. The light grew as I eased the curtain aside. As far as I could see, the mansion was surrounded with a glowing indigo line. The wendigo was pacing outside it.