Hope woke up to the sound of something bouncing off her window. She was slow to come to, burying her face deeper into Landon’s protective arm and trying to cling to the last bit of sleep. But once she was awake, she was awake.

She sat upright, head whipping around to face the window. This time she saw the rock bounce off the glass.

“Landon!” Hope shook his arm, nails digging into his skin. “Landon! Wake up!” 

She threw back the blankets, careful to keep her back to the wall as she snuck over to the window. Peering down, all she could see was a dark hoodie. She watched in horror as it gave up on the window and headed to the front door.

“Landon!” she hissed again. She flew back to the bed, shaking him even harder than before. She could hear pounding on the front door. It was getting louder and louder, but somehow Landon still wasn’t waking up. “Landon! Landon, please! I need you!” 

She finally got her husband to roll over just as the sound of the front door flying open echoed through their large house.

Landon’s head rolled to the side limply, blood trickling from the corners of his eyes.

“No, no, no …” Hope stumbled backwards away from his body, almost to the door when she felt two arms grab her. “No!” She struggled against the grip.

“Hope, stop!” 

Hope recognized the voice immediately, whipping around to stare up at Ryan.

“Why did you do this?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. Ryan just smiled darkly, eyes flickering between her and Landon’s body in the bed.

“I wanted you all to myself of course.” Ryan furrowed his eyebrows, still smiling like nothing was wrong. “Hope, who else would do this to you? Who else would want Landon out of the picture? Don’t be stupid.”

Hope pulled back, jaw slack and eyes wide. She felt someone behind her, and when she whirled around, she found herself face to face with the dead, bleeding eyes of her husband.

“Hope?” he asked, neck bending unnaturally far like it was meant to be inquisitive and then broke. “Hope? Hope, wake up.”

Hope shot up, gasping for air and clawing at her throat. She pushed Landon’s body away and sent him crashing to the floor. She hit the ground on her side of the bed moments after, her legs giving out as she tried to dart away.

“Hey, hey, hey.” Landon appeared on her side, scooping her up in his arms and holding her tight. “It’s okay. It was just a bad dream.”

“He was here,” Hope said, blinking out hot tear after hot tear. She didn’t think she’d ever cried rivers so steady. “He was in this house. He - he killed you.”

“Who? Who was here?” 

Your brother. “The person who sent me the weird messages.”

Landon looked her in the eye. “There’s no one here. It’s just me and you.”

Hope nodded along with him, taking deep, careful breaths. “It’s just us.”

“Hey, you know? I don’t think you’ve seen Revenge of the Sith yet,” Landon said, standing up and offering his wife a hand. 

“Star Wars?” Hope gasped, looking between Landon’s face and his hand, bewildered.

“Yeah, you’ve totally got to see it.” 

Hope followed him numbly as he headed down to the living room, turning on every light along the way. He had started telling her about the movie, careful not to spoil anything, of course, but Hope wasn’t listening. She was looking through every window she passed, waiting to see Ryan’s face on the other side watching them. 

“Here.” 

Hope blinked in surprise. Somehow Landon had already made her a steaming cup of tea. She took it slowly, the warmth seeping into her cold hands.

He was rambling again, tripping over spoilers and doubling back to explain the intricacies. Hope did her best to listen, and when Landon got the movie playing, she did her best to pay attention. It wasn’t long before her eyes were glossing over and her head was falling against Landon’s chest. He smiled down at her. He knew a Star Wars movie would put her right to sleep.

He tightened his grip on her, letting his own head fall back against the couch, and before either of them knew it, they were fast asleep.