When Katie moves into her newly purchased home, she understands why she had gotten it for such a low price. There's something else here with her. With nowhere to go, she has no choice but to adapt to the shadowy creature that lingers in the corners of her house, the dark abyss that reaches out and grabs her ankle and yanks.

~~~~~ Excerpt ~~~~~

"Hey there, baby," a gruff voice makes her jump from where she's just locking up after her shift.

She's been coming out this way for the past few weeks and she's never seen anyone in the alleyway before. She missed the guy leaning on the wall, smoking something that smells rather vile.

She ignores him and peers down the other end of the alley, wishing it wasn't a dead end and she could go out that way instead of having to walk past the stranger. He looks like one of the guys who would book a hotel room to cheat on his wife with, and then when they go on vacations, claim they don't have a budget for a nice hotel room and stay in a cheap motel.

She tries to walk past him as quickly as she can, but his hand shoot out and grab her by her wrist. "Hey, I was talking to you."

"And I was ignoring you," she says, looking at him and seeing the wrinkles at the corner of his eyes when he leers at her.

"I like a girl with a little fight," he says and pulls out a wad of bills from his wallet. He waves it at her. "Want it?" he asks.

Repulsed, she backs from him, shaking her head and frowning in confusion at the offer of money that had come out of nowhere at all.

He looks her up and down and smirks in a way that makes her understand why he's waving the stack of money in her face. The perverted old man thinks she's a prostitute or something.

"I'm afraid you've misunderstood. I'm not-" she can't find the words. "I work in there," she gestures to the bar. If he's a patron, she doesn't want him to get her in trouble by talking to management.

"I understand plenty," he says, throwing the money at her feet.

It catches her off guard, how fast the large guy could move. He grabs her neck and slams her into the brick wall. Her head swims painfully as the man presses against her. He's big enough to pin her with his weight and her head is muddled from the blow.

"You smell real sweet, darling," he says, slobbering over her neck, his breath smelling rotten. The man grunts against her body like a pig while she pushes up against the wall, trying to struggle free to no success.

And then, he's gone.

She blinks, her head clearing as she turns around.

The alleyway is empty. Nothing but empty crates and shadows... shadows that seem to swirl and move, shrinking back and away. Maybe it's just her eyes playing tricks on her, the adrenaline in her veins, making her hallucinate and see things that aren't there.