"Run."

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Dad and I glance toward the front door.

“I’ll get it,” Dad said, setting aside the empty bowl in his hands.

When he opened the door, a familiar smile greeted us.

A woman stood on the porch wearing a light brown coat with a canvas bag hanging from one shoulder.

Her soft chestnut hair framed a kind face, while intelligent hazel eyes brightened the moment she smiled.

"Good afternoon, Thomas.”

"Anna," Dad greeted warmly. "Come in."

The moment I saw her, my mood brightened.

"Aunt Anna!"

She laughed as I wrapped my arms around her in a quick hug.

Anna had moved to Willow Creek five years earlier, and despite the town's endless curiosity, nobody knew much about her past. People only knew she had left the city behind and opened a small bookstore that soon became my favorite place in the entire town.

Whenever life in Willow Creek became too quiet or too predictable, I escaped between her shelves. Romance novels, mysteries, adventures... they reminded me there was a world far bigger than this little farming town.

Dad closed the door behind her.

"What brings you here?"

Anna's smile faded slightly as she glanced toward the barn through the front window.

"I was walking past when I heard Duke. He's been neighing constantly for quite a while. It didn't sound normal, so I thought you should know."

Dad's brows drew together immediately.

"Duke doesn't usually make that much noise unless something's wrong. Thanks."

Anna simply nodded before turning back to me.

"My new romance novel arrives tomorrow."

Despite everything that had happened since Dante appeared, excitement still flickered inside me.

"Really?"

Anna laughed. “Yeah,I had a feeling it would get your attention.”

“I’ll be there first thing tomorrow morning,"I promised.

“I know you will.” She squeezed my hand before saying goodbye and disappearing down the dirt road.

Dad remained standing on the porch for another moment, his gaze fixed on the distant barn.

"I'm going to check on Duke."

"I'll come with you."

“No.” He pulled on his jacket. “Stay inside with… Dante. Give him another dose if he wakes. I won’t be long.”

I wanted to argue, but something in his expression stopped me. I watched him walk across the fields until the tall grass swallowed his figure.

The afternoon dragged by in uncomfortable silence.

Dante never woke. I checked his temperature twice, changed the damp cloth resting across his forehead, and reheated the broth Dad had prepared earlier. I even opened my novel and read a few pages but didn't take in a single word.

 the window.

By six o’clock, Dad still wasn’t back. Checking the horses never took this long.

The sun had already begun sinking behind the hills, painting the countryside in shades of orange and gold.

Maybe one of the fences had broken,maybe a horse had escaped or maybe...

I shook the thought away before it could fully form.

After making sure Dante was still asleep, I slipped quietly outside.

"Dad?"

But no one answered. I crossed the yard as my pace quickened. The evening air felt unnaturally still,even the birds had gone quiet. My heart began to race as I reached the barn and pushed the heavy wooden door open. 

"Dad?"

The horses shifted nervously inside their stalls, stamping against the wooden floor.

Their restless movements made my own uneasiness deepen. I walked farther inside until something on the ground caught my attention. Dad's feed bucket lay overturned. Grains had scattered across the floor, and a few feet away rested his old work hat.

A chill crept down my spine.

Dad?” My voice echoed across the quiet farm, thin and trembling in the gathering twilight. 

I stepped farther into the barn, squinting through the dim evening light. 

Every instinct told me something was terribly wrong. The horses continued snorting anxiously, their ears pinned back as if they sensed danger I couldn't yet see.

Then...

I noticed someone standing near the far wall with his hands raised up and relief flooded through me.

“Dad?” I hurried forward while giving out a nervous laugh. “What are you doing? This isn’t funny.”

I took another step,then another but something sticky clung to the sole of my boot. I frowned and looked down but then, my entire body locked up.

Fresh blood spread across the wooden floor in thick crimson pools. It stretched toward the walls, staining the hay and dripping down one of the support beams like rain.

My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it might break. 

Please don’t let it be him. Please.

My hands trembled as I reached the figure and gently touched his shoulder but the body remained still. With a shaking breath, I slowly turned him around and my world stopped.

"Dad..."

His face was deathly pale. His wrists were bound tightly above his head with coarse rope that had cut deep into his skin. 

Several knife wounds covered his chest and abdomen, his shirt was soaked completely red while blood still dripped steadily from his fingertips onto the floor.

I stared, frozen in disbelief, unable to breathe, think or  accept what I was seeing.

“No…” I shook my head, voice breaking. “No… this isn’t right.”

My fingers flew desperately to the ropes. “They tied you too tight, Dad. Just hold on.”

The ropes finally loosened and his body collapsed forward. I caught him as best I could, but we both crashed to the blood-soaked floor. I cradled his head against her shoulder, rocking him gently.

His body was a bit warm but lifeless.

“Dad!” I called as I cupped his face with both hands with my voice cracking into a sob. “Dad, please…”

I pressed my palms hard against the deepest wound, but warm blood poured between my fingers instantly.

“Apply pressure,” I muttered frantically, repeating the lessons he’d taught me. “Don’t panic. Keep talking…”

“You promised we’d repair the fence tomorrow, remember?” My voice cracked in sobs. “You promised.”

I shook him harder. “Dad! Wake up! You can’t… you can’t leave me.”

My vision blurred, but the tears wouldn’t fall. I looked down at my blood-covered hands and felt something deep inside me shattered.

"DAD!"

My scream ripped through the countryside. Birds burst from the trees in a frantic flurry while the horses reared and panicked in their stalls.

I stumbled backward, staring at my blood-soaked hands again before instinct took over. I scrambled to my feet and ran barefoot, sobbing, unable to draw a full breath. Branches whipped at my arms and face as I sprinted across the fields toward Anna’s cottage, but I felt none of it.

By the time I reached her porch, I could barely breathe. I pounded against the door with both fists.

"Aunt Anna!"

The door flew open. Anna’s warm smile collapsed instantly into horror as she took in my blood-drenched clothes and shaking hands.

“Ava? Oh my God…” She grabbed my shoulders. “What happened? Talk to me.”

I tried to answer, but only broken gasps came out. “My… My…”

I pointed helplessly back toward our barn.

 “Ava… breathe.”

“He…”

A sob tore free. “My dad… the barn…”

Anna didn’t hesitate. She gripped my hand tightly. “Show me. Now.”

We ran back across the field. The moment we burst into the barn, Anna stopped short, a horrified gasp escaping her.

“Oh my God… Thomas…”

I dropped to my knees beside him again, pressing desperately against the wounds even though I already knew it was too late. His breathing was too shallow.

“Dad… please stay with me,” I begged as the tears finally spilled hot down my cheeks. “Please.”

His eyelids fluttered weakly while a faint sound escaped his lips. I leaned closer, ear near his mouth, my heart shattering with every ragged second.

“Honey…” he whispered, barely audible. His bloodied hand twitched, trying to reach me.

“Dad? I’m here. I’m right here.”

For one fleeting second, his eyes met mine—filled with love, fear, and a desperate warning.

“…Run.”

The word barely left his lips, but it hit me like thunder.

“Dad?” I grabbed his face with both trembling hands. 

“No… no, you can’t tell me that. You have to come with me.”

For one heartbreaking second, his eyes focused on mine. That faint, tender smile touched his lips—the same gentle smile he’d given me when I fell off my horse as a little girl, when I cried over a scraped knee, when the world felt too big and scary. The smile that had always meant: 

Everything will be okay, baby girl. I’ve got you. Then the light in his eyes faded while his hand slipped from my cheek and fell heavily onto the blood-soaked floor with a dull, final sound.

“Dad?” I whispered as I  shook him gently, then harder.

“He’s okay, right?” I looked desperately at Anna. “Tell me he’s okay! Auntie Anna, tell me my dad is okay!”

Anna slowly lowered herself beside us. Her fingers pressed against his neck, searching for a pulse that was no longer there. Finally, she closed her eyes as tears slipped down her cheeks. 

“I’m so sorry, Ava. Your father… he’s gone.”

Everything inside me broke. A scream unlike anything I’d ever heard ripped from my chest. The kind of scream only grief could carry. I threw myself over his body, clutching his bloodstained shirt, burying my face against his chest.

Blood covered my arms, my hair, my face, but I didn’t care.

“Dad… please wake up…” I begged in a small, childlike voice. “I’ll be a better daughter. I won’t complain anymore. I’ll stay in Willow Creek forever. I won’t leave. Please… just wake up.”

Anna wrapped trembling arms around me, trying to make me let go of my father's body but I refused to let go. Minutes blurred and my sobs weakened, but my breathing grew faster, shallower. The world spun around me as my heart raced wildly.

Anna recognized the signs immediately and was saying something to me but I couldn’t hear her. The world was spinning around me now while darkness edged my vision.

Just then a sharp prick stung my neck and within seconds, my body grew heavy. My sobs turned into quiet whimpers. The last thing I saw was my father’s peaceful, bloodied face resting against the hay.

Then darkness swallowed me whole.