dark christmas · horror · psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · suspense · winter setting · canon divergence · mystery · dread · nightmare
Part 15. Inside the ruined shop, where the creatures had just smashed the glass, a tense silence reigned. Vera and Cormac stood frozen by the breach, their gazes locked in a cold, mutual loathing. The air still vibrated from the recent fight. Cormac, grim and strained, turned sharply toward her. 'Vera, bring whatever we can barricade this with,' he snapped out. Vera clenched her fists, answering with defiance. 'Why am *I* doing it?!'—'Because you piss me off more than anyone,' he countered. All around them, amid the fear and the debris, their conflict felt like the only thing that mattered.