Page 5
Story: The Sin Binder's Destiny
Silas mouths a silent prayer. "May his dreams be haunted and his sheets forever damp."
I bite my lip, stifling a laugh.
But then Ambrose stirs—just the faintest shift, a muscle ticking in his jaw, his breath catching once.
We freeze.
I don’t breathe.
Silas reaches out slowly, wraps his hand around my wrist, grounding me—and maybe himself. His fingers are cold. Damp. Slimy. I don’t care.
Ambrose exhales, deep and slow, and goes still again.
We bolt.
Down the hallway, back through the kitchen, into the garden like kids running from a crime scene, laughing breathless into the dark.
Silas flings himself into the grass, arms wide, chest heaving. I collapse beside him, my body aching and wet and humming with adrenaline.
"Best night ever," he says between gasps.
I turn my head, meet his eyes, and for a beat, the madness slips. The grin fades. What’s left is raw and stupidly soft.
"Thanks for making me come," I murmur.
He winks. "That’s the goal, baby."
I groan and shove his face into the dirt. He laughs against my palm, and somehow, that sound feels like survival.
Ambrose
I wake to the sound of something wet. It lands on my face with a slap—a weightless, slimy little hell-creature that sends every nerve in my body recoiling before my brain catches up.
My eyes snap open, and for one splintered heartbeat, I brace for something worse—something crawling out of the Hollow to peel me open from the inside. But no. It's worse than that.
It’s a frog.
A fat, mottled thing perched smugly between my cheekbone and temple like it belongs here. Another thump near my foot. A wet croak by my ear. The unmistakable ripple of movement against my leg.
I freeze, my breath slicing out slow and sharp, dragging my composure back piece by piece, because I already know what this is. This isn't an accident. This isn't the Hollow coming for me in my sleep.
This is Silas.
The frog shifts on my face, slick and putrid, and I swallow back the immediate urge to throw up. It hops off with a splat, and the second its cold weight is gone, I sit up—slowly, precisely.
My room is crawling with them.
Frogs on the dresser. Frogs in the curve of my discarded coat. A fucking congregation of them piled at the foot of the bed like they’re holding council over my corpse.
The stench is unbearable—muck and damp and something faintly sour that clings to the walls like rot.
My jaw ticks once.
I let the moment hang, let the weight of this stupidity settle like stones in my chest, then swing my legs over the edge of the bed and plant my feet in the swamp they've turned my room into.
When I stand, the frogs scatter. One vaults into the sleeve of my discarded shirt. Another thumps gracelessly against the wardrobe and slides down like a drunkard.
I should be furious.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5 (Reading here)
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250
- Page 251
- Page 252
- Page 253
- Page 254
- Page 255
- Page 256
- Page 257
- Page 258
- Page 259
- Page 260
- Page 261
- Page 262
- Page 263
- Page 264
- Page 265
- Page 266
- Page 267
- Page 268