“Somebody’s been following me. I felt its presence for days now.” I mumbled, combing through my hair with shaky fingers.

“Its? Faina? What is going on? You haven’t been yourself lately.” Josh grabbed my hands to stop me from fidgeting.

“I have to show you something.” I led him to the back of my house, stopping in front of the stranger’s footsteps. “Look! It has been here yesterday!” I tried to point at the prints, but my hands shook so badly I had to tuck them into the pockets of my jacket.

“I don’t understand. Faina calm down!” He spun me towards him, gently shaking my shoulders.

“Tapeesa was right! She was right all along; I should’ve listened, Josh!” I pointed at the snow “Just look at them!”

“Faina …. It’s nothing there.”

The most heartbreaking thing was the way he looked at me, like I was insane.

And maybe I was, maybe I lost my mind like that young hunter Amaruq had told me about.

“Josh, just look closer! I know what I saw!” I insisted, pushing him down towards the ground.

“I am sorry; I don’t see anything.” He grabbed my body before I hit the ground, holding me up “Please Faina. You have to tell me what is wrong!”

“I … Am I losing my mind, Josh? It that it? Because I don’t know what else is happening. Either this is caused by my mind or …”

“No! Of course not!” He assured me, but I haven’t missed the pity in his eyes.

“I need to go,” I said, pulling myself away from him.

“Where are you going? Wait!” He called after me, but I was already running.

And I knew exactly where I had to go.

***

This had to be it, Road 40. An old decaying wooden cottage stood abandoned a mile outside of the town, its walls already caving in. The decomposing roof was covered with boards, visibly leaking when the snow melted in a warm afternoon sun. I didn’t know how anyone could live there. But they did.

It was almost disturbingly quiet out here, only gentle sounds of wind whistling through the trees, rustling the branches. The shutters banged against the wall and it was a miracle they didn’t fell off with the first incoming snow storm. But they were still there, hanging on the frames of windows, offering a useless protection to already shattered glass.

I carefully knocked on the front door, not expecting that anybody would actually answer me. It was hard to believe someone could live like this.

“What do you want?” A bitter voice yelled behind the shut door, only a dark brown iris visible through the crack.

“I am sorry to bother you, Sir. But I came here to talk about your brother.”

There was a heavy silence on the other side before the man’s voice said “I don’t have a brother. Get the hell out of here before I call the police.”

“You had one.” I placed my palms against the wooden surface, leaning in to get a better view of his face “But he died a few years ago.”

“What’s it to you girl? What do you want from me?” At last he swung the door open, revealing his small figure.

He was at least sixty-five years old and just looking at his worn-out face, it wasn’t hard to guess his soul was buried underneath the heavy burdens of life. His rounded brown eyes were the only thing that stood out on his pale face, surrounded by the white dissembled halo of thin hair. Age spots covered the most of his arms which were slightly shaking. I couldn’t tell if it was me who made him nervous or if it were tremors causing it.

“Amaruq has told me about you. My name is Faina and I need your help. Desperately.”

“I have no business with you girl. Get lost!” He growled in my face, pointing towards the town.

When he was about to shut the door in my face I blurted out “Tapeesa had warned me against something in the woods. Amaruq told me about your brother, Akesuk, and I know what he was afraid of.”

The old man spun around with surprisingly fast movements, grabbing my hand “What are you talking about? My brother lost his mind years ago!”

“Did he really? I think you are not so certain yourself, are you?” I narrowed my eyes at him, taking a step closer.

He sighed, glancing behind me if anyone overheard us “Get in. Hurry.” He firmly shut the door when I entered, but even with the doors closed, I could feel a chilly draft coming from the dozens of cracks.

I followed the man into a deteriorating old room, where everything looked like the time stopped in 80’s. A heavy wooden desk stood beside the window, covered with a thin layer of snow. Every surface of the antique furniture was glistening either with dust particles or the frost. There were photos with heavy metallic frames hanging on the wall, displaying a young man with tousled raven hair.

“Is this him, Akesuk?” I slid the finger across one of them, wiping off the thick layer of dust. There was something odd about these pictures, however I couldn’t quite pinpoint the real reason why I felt that.

He only nodded, turning towards the bed. I watched him closely as he lifted the mattress, pulling out a rusty old box. He had to use the screwdriver to pry the lid off, heaving with effort. I offered him my assistance but his dark look was enough for me to take a step back. Eventually, he managed to pull it open, rummaging through the contents. There were more pictures, old torn gloves and a strange leather book inside the box.

“This was his diary. It was right before he...” He shook his head, turning away.

He carefully took the book, opening the wrinkled, ink-stained pages. Akesuk’s writing was hurried and to my disappointment – barely readable.

“Have you read it?” I asked his brother, who kneeled there with an uneasy expression on his face, his fingers gliding through the yellow pages.

“I tried, but I didn’t understand anything. It’s a journal of a complete madman.”

“Can I?” He hesitantly placed the book in my extended arms, afraid to give me his brother’s possession. I leafed through the pages, catching a few sentences here and there.

It all said the same:

Don’t move. Stay perfectly still, don’t breathe, don’t make a sound, for he is sightless.

And there was a name written all over the pages, over and over again: Kalluk.

“He is real isn’t he?” I choked on the words, shutting the diary with a loud thud “How is that even possible?”

“I can’t say for sure if my brother was sane or not. But … That day in the woods, it changed everything.” The man said with regret “Now go. I have nothing else to show or help you with. This is all I know.”

“Thank you, Sir.” I stepped out of the stale smelling room, gratefully nodding at him “And for what happened to your brother, I am really sorry.”

“Girl.” He suddenly stopped me, placing his hand on my shoulder “Don’t try to dig out our old wounds. We’ll all get hurt, especially you.” I watched him as shut the door behind me, leaving me confused. What did he mean by our wounds?

Even if I realized this trip wasn’t much of a help, I got to find out a few important things. The shadow that hunted me was the same one that made Akesuk lost his mind. He faced the monster and wrote about it in his journal. But I somehow knew these scribbles weren’t just simple babbling of the madman.

It was a clue. Kalluk was supposed to be blind.