Chapter 30: The Game Turns Deadly

Daniel ripped the journal page off the basement wall with trembling fingers. The blade clattered to the floor, the sound metallic and final.

Ryan stared at the message, every word carved into his chest like a threat.

“Every story needs an ending. I’m coming to write yours myself.”

Daniel’s jaw tightened as he crumpled the page in his fist. “He was here, Ryan. He was in the house.”

“No no, that’s not possible,” Ryan whispered. “We locked the doors. The windows. The alarm”

“He bypassed all of it,” Daniel snapped, fury in his eyes. “This isn’t just obsession anymore. This is stalking. This is war.”

Ryan turned away, trying to breathe. His lungs refused to work properly. His vision swam.

Upstairs, the cabin creaked again louder this time.

They weren’t alone.

Daniel moved instantly, pressing Ryan back against the wall, shielding him. He reached for the knife that had been used to pin the page, hand steady, movements sharp.

Then footsteps above.

Heavy. Measured. Deliberate.

Not Chris.

Daniel looked at Ryan and mouthed: Stay here.

Ryan grabbed his arm. “Don’t go up alone.”

But Daniel was already moving silent, trained, eyes scanning each shadow as he made his way up the basement steps.

Ryan stayed frozen for a second. Then followed.

He couldn’t just stand there and wait. Not again.

He moved slowly, staying close to the wall, ears tuned to every creak and shift.

When he reached the main floor, Daniel was already in the hallway, the knife raised, checking each room one by one.

And then

The front door swung open violently.

Both of them turned, bracing for

Chris.

Soaked, panicked, out of breath.

“Someone slashed the tires,” he gasped. “And left this on the windshield.”

He held up a photo.

Another one.

It was a picture of Ryan sleeping on the couch taken from inside the cabin.

Ryan’s stomach dropped. “He’s been inside while I slept.”

Chris nodded grimly. “He left footprints outside the back window. I followed them around the cabin. He’s watching us. Still.”

Daniel turned and locked the door. “Then we don’t sleep tonight.”

Ryan pressed his hands against his face, trying not to break apart. “What does he want from me? Why won’t he stop?”

Chris placed a hand on his shoulder, voice low. “It’s not about what he wants. It’s about control. He doesn’t want to love you, Ryan. He wants to own you.”

“And when he realizes he can’t?” Ryan asked, voice shaking.

Chris and Daniel exchanged a grim look.

“He’ll try to destroy you,” Daniel said. “Piece by piece.”

That night, they stayed together in the living room. Lights on. Weapons nearby. Chris sat by the window, keeping watch. Daniel paced restlessly. Ryan sat on the floor, knees hugged to his chest.

Sleep hovered at the edge of his vision, but fear kept his mind sharp.

Around 2 a.m., Daniel sat beside him. “Do you remember what you wrote in the entry Adrien stole?”

Ryan nodded slowly. “It was the first time I admitted… I didn’t know if I wanted to be alive anymore.”

Daniel’s face softened. “You didn’t mean it, did you?”

Ryan swallowed. “I didn’t not mean it. I was tired. Of being afraid. Of being chased. Of feeling like I didn’t belong to myself.”

Daniel reached over, gently linking their fingers.

“You belong to yourself,” he whispered. “And no matter what Adrien does, he can’t take that from you.”

The words settled like warmth in Ryan’s chest.

But then the house phone rang.

All three of them jolted.

Daniel grabbed it, voice sharp. “Hello?”

A moment of silence.

Then a voice on the other end distorted, robotic rasped: “You’re all so comfortable. Shall I knock?”

The line went dead.

And then

A loud bang against the back door.

Ryan jumped up, heart slamming.

Another bang. Closer this time.

Chris ran to the door, pulling it open.

Nothing.

Just the dark trees swaying in the wind. The empty yard. The silence.

Then they saw it.

A single red rose, placed on the porch step. Its stem pierced through another torn page from Ryan’s journal.

The words written in bold black ink:

“If I can’t have you in life, I’ll write you into death.”