IT was late in the evening when Ríone left Jake's home.

"Take care, Río," Jake said. "If you feel the need to speak about anything at all, you have my number. Call me. Do not hesitate."

Ríone gave him a smile. It was a tired one, yet so genuine. "Yeah, I will. Bye, Jake."

They were outside his house, standing beneath rows of stars that marked Loutham's night skies. Thick clusters swirled around the sky like many strings of pearls woven in the aegean fabric. Trees stood tall like sentries guarding a precious treasure. Winds swisher under their leaves emitting a faint hissing sound. Amidst the natural wonders of the woods, the white sedan paled in comparison.

Embracing one more time, the friends parted. Jake turned towards his little house while Ríone walked over to her car. A gentle smile was on her lips. Despite the not so pleasant things they discussed, she was at peace. Her mind was no more a battlefield of conflicting thoughts.

She pulled open the door and sat down in the driver's seat. Shutting the door, she averted her gaze to Jake's front door. A lone light shone on his empty porch. It made her heart swell with a warmth that she had not experienced for a long time. Happiness. This was true happiness.

Still occupied with such thoughts, Ríone turned on the car radio. A groovy 90s jam began to play. Humming at its tune, she started to drive. The sedan turned backwards before proceeding towards the intersection. Her hair blew in the breeze that entered through the open windows of the car.

Our state of mind defines our view of our surroundings, Ríone thought. Here she was, all smiles and relaxed. The woods felt like a friend who could protect her from whatever danger that lay ahead. Back in the morning, however, she found them to be obstructing. A maze that could engulf her in the blink of an eye.

Clarity, that was what she had. She desperately needed someone to understand her, to confirm that her fears were not unfounded. The Ríone who had come to Loutham would have been freaked out by it. But this Ríone? No, she was not afraid. Something had changed. What it was she did not know, but she could feel the change.

The sky changed colours from aegean to cerulean as she progressed towards her house. More stars appeared from the womb of the heavens. They sparkled like diamonds, a sight you would never see in the city. Ríone wondered how in the world she never noticed them before when she was a kid and still living in Loutham. Where were the stars when she really needed to see them?

The corners of her lips drooped. She tried to remember a night of her childhood that was pleasant. She could not find any. If her father drank enough to put himself in a stupor, then she could complete her school assignments and eat her dinner in peace. But if he did not pass out, the very foundations of the house would shake with his screams.

She remembered being seated at the dinner table, clutching the armrests of the chairs with her full strength. Her heart would shudder as her father's screams would reverberate all around the house. Spittle would fly from her father's mouth as he would hurt indignities towards her mother. Perhaps the tears that she shed later in the sanctuary of her bedroom would blind her eyes from seeing the stars.

At instances like that, she hoped he would die. Like, just drop dead on the dining table. And she never was ashamed of this feeling. Maybe that was why a part of her was jubilant when he did really die. She hated him, still did. Never made sense to her why she should forgive him just because he was dead. That did not change the fact that he had scarred her life in irreversible ways.

The car came to a halt. Ríone switched off the ignition before getting out of the car. She sucked in a deep breath through her mouth and walked over to the house. Turning the knob, she stepped into the darkness of the living room.

Her feet came to a stop at the threshold. This was wrong. Did she not switch on the lights before leaving that morning? How come they got switched off? The first that came to her mind was burglars. But there was not a single trace of forced entry at the entrance, nor did they have a back door through which someone could enter. Plus, burglaries were rather rare in Loutham.

With her heart in her throat, she stepped further inside the house. It was pitch black. Hell, she could not even see the windows in the darkness. She tiptoed on her heels to not alert anyone if they had broken into the house. Her breath fogged in front of her.

No sound. Not a single one. The house was silent like a graveyard. She strained her ears to catch the noise of muffled voices or footsteps, but could hear none. It seemed the house was really empty. If so, how did the lights in the living room all get switched off? A short circuit seemed like a suitable answer.

A draft of cold air made her scrunch her face. Goosebumps rose on the exposed skin of her arms. Damp chills rose from within the house, freezing her. She was about to turn towards the switchboard to ensure what had happened to the lights when the front door closed with a furious bang.

"Oh my God!"

Ríone jumped around. Her heart hammered against her chest. A tendril of chill rushed past her arm. The room seemed to grow even darker than it was when she had just returned. It seemed to close in on her. The skin behind her neck crawled. Someone was watching her, her subconscious yelled to her.

Emitting a strong exhale, she turned around to face whatever was behind her. A gasp of horror escaped her lips as her mind registered the familiarity of the form. She froze on the spot. Her legs felt like Jello - if she dared to take another step, she would collapse under her weight.

It was her father. Her dead father. But he did not look at all dead at that moment. Nor was there any ghostlike attribute to his appearance. He was solid, just like she was. Her insides crawled at the sight of her old abuser.

"You were screwing around with that boy, weren't you?" said the apparition with a smirk on its lips. "Won't you let your ol' get a taste of you?"

Ríone wanted to scream, but it came out as a hiss. He was speaking just like the day he tried to molest her. In her panic, she forgot he was dead - that he could no longer harm. She turned around and tried to run away but ended up tripping on the stairs. A warm trickle of blood ran down from her forehead.

The last thing she saw was the apparition advancing towards her before darkness ate her whole.