The Stalker Next Door: 20. The Tether Tightens

The plan was simple.

She’d rise before dawn. Take the compass from the shelf, slip the knife from the kitchen drawer, and walk into the trees before he even knew she was gone. The mist would cover her tracks. By the time he woke, she’d be miles away.

Mara lay in bed rehearsing it over and over, her heart pounding. She could see each movement: the shelf, the knife, the door. The first steps into the woods. Freedom like cold air on her face.

She waited for his silhouette to appear on the porch like it had every morning. Waited for the sound of his boots as he moved outside.

But the cabin was silent.

Too silent.

She crept out of bed, bare feet whispering on the wooden floor. The compass glinted on the shelf. The knife waited in the kitchen drawer.

She reached for the compass first. Her fingers closed around the cool brass, heart hammering, when a voice came from behind her.

“You’re not ready.”

She froze.

He was in the doorway, leanin