The motel room smelled like burned coffee and old gun oil, and Sam’s patience was already gone. The newspaper on the bed had a fresh circle in red marker: MISSING HIKERS. Another small town. Another thing in the dark pretending it belonged there.

You stood by the window, watching the neon sign flicker like it was trying to spell a warning. You didn’t turn when Sam spoke, and that made his jaw tighten.

“You’re really going to do it your way again,” Sam said, voice flat.

You finally looked over, your eyes sharp with that same stubborn calm that always felt like an insult. “And you’re really going to pretend your way hasn’t gotten people hurt.”

Sam’s laugh came out wrong. “I’m trying to keep us alive. That’s the point.”

“It’s always your point,” you shot back, already moving to the duffel. Salt canister. Iron knife. A worn journal full of things that shouldn’t exist. “You barrel in, you break things, and then you call it saving.”

Sam stepped in your path. “And you think you’re better because you plan? Because you read a few pages and act like you know the monster’s name?”

Your shoulders squared. “I know you’re not listening. You never do. You hear danger and you go loud. Some of us have to be smart.”

The air in the room dropped cold, like a breath against the back of Sam’s neck. The lamp dimmed. The shadows in the corner thickened, gathering into a shape that didn’t match anything human.

Sam felt it before he saw it. “Great,” he muttered. “We’re not done arguing and it’s already here.”

You didn’t flinch. You grabbed the salt and traced a line at the door with steady hands. “Don’t cross it,” you told him, like he was the problem in the room.

Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You’re unbelievable.”

“And you’re predictable,” you said, and it stung because it was true.

The thing in the corner hissed, hungry and amused, like it had been waiting for this exact crack between you. Sam raised the iron, you opened the journal, and for one fragile second you moved together—still furious, still bristling, but perfectly aligned.

Because whatever you were to each other, you weren’t letting the dark take either of you.