The kitchen door stood ajar, the screen flapping in the breeze. A plastic tablecloth on the dining room table shivered in the wind. In a dark corner, a figure in a tattered raincoat crouched on the floor, its back to me. A horrible sound filled the space between us, like teeth crunching into bone. Marrow being sucked from the insides.

“Who are you?” My voiced cracked, so hoarse I didn’t recognize it.

The munching stopped. The figure froze, then vanished like chalk erased from a slate. In its place lay a dead seagull, half-eaten. Its pale eyes stared up at me. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted the raincoat again, slithering across the kitchen floor, undulating into a slit in the wall.

Blood pulsed in my ears. I glanced at the wall and then at the mess on the floor. The frail bones shook, scuttling with loud clicks as they bounced on the floor—vibrating and quaking into letters: Maudit.

I stared at the bones. I wasn’t crazy and here was proof. The curse was real!

A hiss curled around the nape of my neck. I tore from the room, a bolt of adrenaline exploding in my veins. I dashed into the living room, grabbed my cell phone and ran.

I tore open the front door. A howling wind shattered across the leaden sky, trembled through the treetops. I stood on the weathered porch, dirt grinding into my heels and stared in disbelief. Wolf’s truck sat in the yard, shrouded in darkness like a mechanical monster. He never left! What had happened to him? My heart raced. The last time I saw him he’d gone upstairs, to check on the light we saw in the bedroom window. As much as I dreaded it, I had to go back inside to find him. I opened the door and scanned the living room, my scalp tingling. Nothing. Not one sound.

I raced up the stairs, my body complaining with each step.

“Wolf? Are you up here?” Every word ripped at my tender throat.

A light glowed from under a door to one of the guest bedrooms, which didn’t make any sense. There wasn’t even a bed in there, just an empty frame. Had the light been on all this time and I just didn’t notice it until tonight?

The doorknob turned easily in my hand, creaking as it opened.

A hand shot out of nowhere and gripped my shoulder.