One of the dead was at the top of the stairs. Only his silhouette was visible until Margot lifted her arm and shone the phone’s pale light into his face. One eye was missing entirely. Maggots filled the cavity, roiling, squirming through the flesh. Nostrils flared as his head turned toward Margot. The mouth twitched, pulling against the black threads.

He wasn’t yet blocking her path, though. Margot skidded on the wooden floor as she changed direction, turning herself toward the passages that led to the second stairwell.

She passed her bedroom, the door still hanging open, the carnage inside still visible. The idea that the axe might be useful flashed through her mind, but she didn’t stop to retrieve it. At best, it could only slow the dead. At worst, it would slow Margot. And she couldn’t afford that.

The corner appeared before she expected it, and her shoulder scraped the wooden panels as she took it too fast. Her arms swung to keep her balance, and the light, weak to begin with, swung along with them, revealing the pathway in sparse flickers.

She was at the stairs, though, and took them two at a time, spasms of pain jarring through her ankle and her arm at each step. Then she was back into the hall leading to the front door. She caught herself on the corner to the kitchen and snatched up Marsh’s leash from the table. Then back into the hallway. The Watcher blocked her way, guarding the entrance, and Margot thought maybe he did do some good because when she reached the front door she discovered it was still locked. She scrambled to unseal it, then darted out, leaving it open behind her. So many of the dead were already inside, it seemed futile to try to block them.

Margot was at the porch’s top step before she saw the figure climbing toward her. A third member of the dead was on the stairs, reaching up, his cheeks billowing as his jaw tried to stretch past the limits of the black thread.

She leapt away. The dead man’s long fingernails snagged in a lose lock of hair. Margot threw herself back, and a muted cry escaped through her clenched teeth as hairs were torn from her scalp. She was free, though, and racing along the wraparound porch, the wooden boards booming beneath her feet.

Dark, thin shapes hung from the ceiling. Margot ducked to avoid one and realized she was seeing nooses only when they creaked, heavy and slow, behind her.