Round 2 Transcript

The lamp flickers once more, its warm glow casting long shadows across the room. I rise from my chair, every sense alert, as I move toward the kitchen—toward the knives waiting in their drawers near the back door's reach. The house feels wrong, holding its breath around me. That pulled-out chair scrapes against my nerves; something shifted here while I wasn't looking.

The hallway stretches longer than it should, shadows pooling at the base of the stairs where the basement door lies open just a fraction more than before. Don't imagine things—focus on what's solid: the iron poker beside me, the phone cable long enough to reach anywhere in this damn house if needed, the rain outside that could cover any noise.

But the silence... too complete. No creaking floorboards, no settling house sounds. And now I hear it—a faint scrape from deeper inside? My heart quickens, but I force my breathing steady. First priority: eyes on every corner, hands ready to grab whatever suits my purpose.

I've got her location. I swiftly turn the know and force the door inward. My target stands before me, completely unaware of my former unannounced presence. I take aim and fire, the bullet quickly piercing the back of Jeane's head. It travels through her skull and out the front, coating the room in a crimson shower.