In an instant she was up, pulling on the last of the clean clothes from her suitcase. Once she had put on her boots, she headed out into the hallway towards the kitchen. She had no clear idea what time it was, or how long she’d been asleep, but the living room was empty, and all the lights were off. Nikki’s bedroom door was slightly open and a quick peek inside confirmed her bed was unslept in.

‘Christ, Nikki, where are you?’

She checked her phone to see if her messages had been received. They hadn’t. All at once the idea that Nikki had simply stayed out late without telling her seemed ludicrous. She had brought Nikki into danger, and now she was gone. Heather went to the kitchen drawers and pulled out the biggest, sharpest knife she could find, feeling the weight of it in her hand.

Well, fuck this.

Heather went to the front door and eased it open. For a handful of seconds, she stood very still. She could see nothing else from where she was, but somewhere to her right she could hear those slow, methodical steps. The wind gusted in her direction, and she even heard the soft noise of nylon brushing against nylon.

Holding the knife low by her hip, Heather stepped out into the dark, keeping close to the wall of the cottage. When she rounded the corner, she froze, sure that whoever it was would see her, but she saw almost immediately that she had been lucky; the figure had their back to her, and they appeared to be heading back into the woods. They were tall, and wearing a thickly padded winter coat, a hood covering their head so that they were little more than a dark shape. As she watched, the figure turned their head slightly, clearly glancing at the windows of the cottage.

Fear vanished. She didn’t even feel the cold. Instead, a hot, dry landscape of anger opened up inside Heather, just as it had the day she had slammed a pen through a man’s hand. Here, undoubtedly, was the person who had been terrorizing her these last few weeks. And they were still at it, creeping about in the dark, looking for a place to leave more of their notes and feathers.

Before she even knew she was moving, Heather had crossed the short space between them and thrown herself at the stranger’s back. They collided and fell together with an oof, crashing into the leaves and mud with more force than Heather realized she was capable of.

‘Who the fuck are you? What do you want?’

The figure scrambled, trying to buck her off violently, but Heather drove her knee into its back, and they slumped into the dirt again. Grabbing the coat by the shoulder, she yanked the mysterious figure around to face her, bringing her knife up to the throat.