He reached the heavy oak door and didn't bother to knock. He stepped inside, the sudden warmth of the hallway pressing against his cold cheeks like a hand.
The gravel crunched under Elias’s boots, a sound that felt far too loud in the suffocating silence of the valley. Coming Home in the Dark
Every snap of a twig made his heart kick against his ribs. He found himself walking faster, his breath hitching. It’s just the woods, he told himself. It’s just the wind. But the dark has a way of peeling back the layers of adulthood, leaving behind the shivering child who still believes in what hides under the bed. Then, he saw it—a soft, amber pulse in the distance. He reached the heavy oak door and didn't bother to knock