The Stalker Next Door: 31. When Shadows Collide

The storm hadn’t broken yet, but the air in the cabin carried the same weight — heavy, trembling, a sky swollen with thunder.

Mara sat on the couch, her knees tucked under her, staring at the half-empty glass of water in her hands. The first Watcher hadn’t stopped pacing since sunset. His boots thudded across the warped planks, each turn sharper, more restless than the last.

The knife was never out of his hand.

“Something’s out there,” he muttered, not to her, but to the walls. “I feel it.”

Mara said nothing. She kept her breathing even, her expression smooth, though inside her chest her heart pounded. She knew something was out there.

The second Watcher had promised. And she knew that he was going to keep his promise. 

And he was about to make good on it, she was sure.

The knock came like a gunshot.

Three hard raps against the door.

Mara’s glass slipped from her hand, shattering against the floor. Her eyes snapped to the Wa