The blue sedan protested as it struggled up the rough road toward Orph, the sun's final glow vanishing in the west. Shadows deepened rapidly, pooling beneath the trees as the air chilled and thickened.
Bella kept her gaze fixed on the road. Two hours of driving had numbed her, fatigue weighing heavily, but she wouldn't let it slow her down. Now wasn't the time to lose her edge.
She knew one thing for sure: she was wide awake.
Sophia shifted in her seat, unusually silent. Even her earlier enthusiasm had evaporated, replaced by a restless quiet that made Bella uneasy.
Their grandmother's inheritance occupied Bella's mind, the town, the mansion, the silence that surrounded it all. She'd never been here as a child. Her father had seen to that. Whatever remained of her family's past waited just ahead, obscured by time and distance.
Then something moved.
"Oh my God!" Bella exclaimed.
Her foot hit the brake hard.
The car bucked, tires screeching as they fought for traction on the dirt, finally coming to a stop at the bend in the road.
Sophia let out a shriek, her hands white-knuckled on the dashboard. "What was that?!"
Bella's pulse raced as she held the steering wheel. "Something darted out in front of us. Did you see it?"
Sophia turned in her seat, her gaze darting over the road. "No… Was it a dog?"
"It looked like one," Bella replied, her voice trailing off. "But something wasn't right."
She shook her head, forcing a laugh that sounded thin. "I'm probably just exhausted."
She spoke the words as she swung the car door open. The cold air outside was a sudden, unwelcome shock. Bella knelt, peering under the vehicle, her breathing quick.
Nothing.
The road stretched out, desolate. Too desolate.
Trees swayed in the fading light, their leaves murmuring, as if confiding in the approaching darkness. Bella stood, a shiver racing up her back.
"Do you see it?" Sophia's voice was a whisper.
"No," Bella said, forcing a smile as she settled back into the driver's seat. "Nothing."
But the image lingered, refusing to fade, two unblinking, luminous eyes, watching from the shadows.
And then, they vanished.