The clippings stared back at her like ghosts.

Lila’s fingers trembled as she reached out, brushing against the yellowed edges of a newspaper cutout. A woman’s face smiled up at her—bright-eyed, hopeful, alive. And there, just behind her, Adrian’s shadow. Always watching. Always close.

Her stomach twisted.

Missing. Presumed dead.

The words blurred as her vision swam. How many were there? Dozens? More?

And at the center of it all, a single handwritten note, the ink smudged as if written in haste:

"Lena’s work is almost done."

Lena.

The name slithered into her skull, cold and familiar. 

A floorboard creaked overhead.

Lila froze.

Adrian wasn’t due back for hours. But the wind had died. The cabin had gone eerily silent.

And then—

A footstep.

Deliberate. Heavy.

He’s here.

Her pulse roared in her ears. She had seconds. Less.

She lunged for the stairs, her injured leg screaming in protest as she scrambled upward. The basement door groaned as she shoved it shut behind her, the rug falling back into place just as the front door swung open.

Cold air rushed in, carrying the scent of snow and pine—and gasoline.

Adrian stood in the doorway, his arms laden with supplies. His good eye flicked to her, then to the rug. To the basement door beneath it.

A beat of silence.

"You’re up," he said, his voice too calm.

Lila forced her breathing steady. "Just… getting water."

His gaze dropped to her empty hands.

Her throat tightened.

Then—

A smile. Slow. Knowing.

"Good," he said, stepping inside. "You should rest."

He moved past her, setting the supplies down. A can of fuel rolled from the bag, thudding against the floor.

Lila’s breath hitched.

Adrian didn’t pick it up.

That night, she dreamed of fire.

Of Mia’s laughter curling like smoke in the air. Of Adrian’s hands, slick with blood, pressing into hers.

"You owe me," he whispered.

She woke gasping.

The cabin was dark. Adrian’s breathing was steady from the couch where he slept.

But something was wrong.

The scent of gasoline was stronger now. Clinging to his clothes. His skin.

And outside—

Fresh tracks in the snow. Leading into the woods.

Leading back.

Her heart hammered against her ribs.

He’s hiding something.

No.

He’s hiding someone.

Morning came too soon.

Adrian was already dressed, his boots caked with mud and snow. "Going to check the traps," he said, his voice light. Too light. "Stay inside. It’s cold."

She nodded, forcing a smile until the door closed behind him.

Then—

Action.

Her hands shook as she tore through the cabin, searching for anything—a weapon, a phone, a way out. But there was nothing. No signal. No car keys. No hope.

Except—

The gasoline.

Her gaze snapped to the can near the door. To the matches on the counter.

To the truth burning in her chest.

Adrian had saved her life.

But he had also ended so many others.

And if she stayed—

She would be next.

The first match hissed to life.

For a heartbeat, she hesitated.

Then—

She dropped it.

Flames erupted, hungrily licking up the curtains, the walls, the bed where she had almost died. Smoke filled her lungs as she stumbled back, choking, her eyes streaming.

But she didn’t stop.

She couldn’t.

By the time Adrian returned, the cabin was an inferno, the fire roaring against the pale morning sky.

His scream was raw. Desperate.

"LILA!"

She was already running—limping through the snow, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Behind her, the flames swallowed everything.

The cabin.

The basement.

The proof.

And when Adrian finally found her—collapsed in the snow, her hands burned, her face streaked with soot and tears—she looked up at him with wide, trembling eyes.

"I—I tried to put it out," she whispered. "But it was too fast."

His expression shattered.

For a moment, she thought he knew.

Then—

He pulled her into his arms, his grip crushing. "It’s okay," he murmured into her hair. "It’s okay."

But it wasn’t.

Because as the fire burned behind them, Lila realized the terrible truth:

She had just destroyed the only evidence of Adrian’s sins.

And now—

There was nothing left to stop him.