Edinburgh, Winter’s Grasp

  The bitter wind howled down the narrow, cobbled streets of Edinburgh, sweeping through the alleyways and the darkened corners of the city. The cold of the Scottish winter was relentless, biting at Sophie’s skin and seeping deep into her bones. Snowflakes drifted from the sky, but the city remained unchanged, its centuries-old buildings standing stoic against the harshness of the season. Edinburgh was a city of shadows, where history and mystery seemed to cling to every stone, and tonight, it felt like the very air was thick with secrets.

  Sophie sat alone at a small food stall in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle, a place where tourists rarely ventured at this hour, the streets mostly empty, save for a few stragglers seeking warmth. The chill in the air gnawed at her, but it wasn’t the cold she felt most. It was the emptiness inside her—an ache that had nothing to do with the biting winds. Her fingers, stiff and numb, gripped the bottle of beer, the glass slick with condensation, but the alcohol did nothing to warm her, nothing to quell the gnawing sorrow.

  "Sophie, we’re not right for each other."

  The words Liam had spoken earlier echoed in her mind, relentless and unforgiving. Liam. The man she had shared three years of her life with, the one she had trusted, loved, and built her future with. Now, he had dismissed her, as easily as one would discard a broken object. It was as though he had erased her from his life in an instant.

  Her chest felt hollow, her heart aching with the sharp sting of betrayal. She had never imagined this would happen. Not like this.

  "Why?" Her voice trembled, a weak whisper against the howling wind. She had asked him a hundred times in her mind, but there had been no answer. Just that cold detachment, as though nothing mattered. He had made his choice, and now Sophie was left alone, abandoned in the bitter cold.

  Liam had handed her the keys to their shared apartment with a detached finality, a symbol of their once-promised life together being tossed aside. His indifference had cut deeper than anything he could have said, and yet, he had said it all with those few words. He didn’t need to explain. He didn’t care.

  She had tried to speak, to beg, to make him understand. But before she could form another word, his phone had rung. The screen displayed Ava. The name sent a surge of fury through her chest. Ava. Her best friend. The woman she had trusted more than anyone, the one who had promised she would never betray her.

  But now, Ava was the one who had stolen the man Sophie loved. Ava had become the wound Sophie couldn’t stop touching.

  Liam’s voice broke through her spiralling thoughts as he answered the phone. “Hello? Yeah, I’m on my way.”

  There it was, his coldness so complete it chilled her to the core. No apology. No regret. Just the matter-of-fact words that sealed the end of everything.

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  The wind howled again, stronger now, carrying an odd, unsettling whisper that made Sophie’s skin crawl. Her heart skipped a beat. The voice was distant, low, and almost familiar, though she couldn’t quite place it.

  "Don’t trust him... Don’t trust him..."

  Her pulse quickened, and her breath caught in her throat. Sophie spun around, searching the street for the source of the voice. There was no one, only the flickering glow of the street lamps casting long, twisted shadows on the cobblestones. The alleys stretched dark and empty, as though the city itself was holding its breath.

  Then, her eyes landed on something that made her blood run cold.

  In the shadow of the nearby old buildings, a figure stood, barely visible beneath the haze of mist rolling in from the River Forth. An old woman, hunched and wrapped in a tattered red cloak, her face hidden beneath a hood. Sophie’s stomach twisted as their eyes met—eyes that gleamed with an unsettling sharpness, like the edge of a blade.

  The woman didn’t speak at first, but Sophie could feel the weight of her gaze. And then, as though the air around them had thickened, the woman’s lips parted, her voice a rasping whisper that seemed to vibrate through the air.

  "You’ve been wronged... And you will pay the price."

  The words hung in the cold night, more chilling than the winter winds. Sophie’s breath caught, the world suddenly feeling too small, too close. What did she mean? What price? Blood debt?

  Before Sophie could respond, the woman vanished, her form melting into the shadows as if she had never been there. Sophie blinked, her heart pounding in her chest, but the street was empty once more. The noise of the city returned, distant and muffled. It was as though the woman had never existed.

  The bottle slipped from Sophie’s hand and shattered on the cobblestones with a sharp crack. The sound echoed in the silence, but it did nothing to break the suffocating feeling that had descended upon her.

  Sophie turned and stumbled away from the stall, her mind spinning. Her legs felt unsteady beneath her as if the earth itself had shifted beneath her feet. Every step felt heavier than the last. She could feel something following her—something dark, something watching. The wind whipped around her, and the shadows seemed to stretch farther, deeper, as though they were reaching for her.

  When she reached the flat she called home, Sophie slammed the door behind her, desperate to escape the chill of the night and the cold in her soul. But the silence inside the apartment was suffocating. The emptiness hung thick in the air, mingling with the ghosts of what had once been.

  A knock at the door.

  Soft. Slow. The rhythm of someone who knew exactly what they were doing.

  “Sophie... open the door...”

  The voice was wrong. Familiar, but warped, twisted with an undertone of something darker, something sinister. Sophie’s heart raced as she stared at the door, her throat tight with fear. She tried to move, to call out, but no sound escaped her lips. The knob turned slowly, creaking as though an invisible force was turning it.

  And then, through the crack beneath the door, the dark liquid began to seep in—thick and crimson, like blood from a wound. The smell filled the room, sour and rancid, choking her as it spread across the floor. She wanted to scream, but no sound came.

  "Give me your life..."

  The voice returned, the words an incantation, a curse meant for her.

  Sophie fell to her knees, her body trembling. The darkness had come for her. And she knew, deep within, that it would not leave.

  In this version, Edinburgh’s rich history and eerie atmosphere heighten the feeling of isolation, grief, and suspense. The city’s cold, dark streets, combined with the supernatural elements, create a gothic setting that amplifies the horror and mystery of Sophie’s experience.