Chapter 1 - The Thing Behind MeMy scream tore through the bedroom.
My father-in-law was still lying between my husband and me.
But he wasn't sleeping.
His eyes were wide open.
And in his hand...
was a tiny white object covered in blood.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then my husband grabbed my wrist.
“Don't touch it.”
His voice was barely a whisper.
I stared at the object.
“What is that?”
My father-in-law slowly sat up.
His face had changed.
The calm, grandfatherly expression he had worn downstairs was gone.
“Where did you find it?”
I couldn't answer.
My breathing became shallow.
“I didn't find anything,” I whispered. “Something was biting me.”
My father-in-law exchanged a glance with my husband.
That glance terrified me more than the strange object.
They knew something.
Something they weren't telling me.
I pulled the blanket away from my legs.
Three small red marks were visible on my thigh.
Perfectly round.
Almost like tiny teeth had pressed into my skin.
My husband immediately stood.
“I'll get some water.”
“No.”
His father stopped him.
He looked directly at me.
“You must not leave this room tonight.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he walked toward the bedroom door and locked it.
Click.
The sound seemed impossibly loud.
My stomach dropped.
“Why did you lock the door?”
My father-in-law turned around.
“Because whatever happened tonight must remain inside this room.”
I looked at my husband.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
That was when I realized something.
This wasn't a family tradition.
At least...
not the way they had described it.
May you like
And whatever was supposed to happen on my wedding night had been planned long before I ever entered this house.
I just didn't know yet that the first bite was only the beginning.
