Leo’s axe arced through the air, the whoosh of wind tickling his ears before the satisfying thud of metal burying itself in wood, followed by the near instantaneous crackling splinter of the log beneath his axe.

He cracked a smile, remembering the way that last victim’s bones had splintered under his axe. Bones splinter real different than wood, but they splinter all the same. Those strong wills those girls boast about... those splinter too. Don’t even need an axe to break those, most of the time. All it takes is a touch.

And the new cabin owner... oh, Leo doubted it would take very much at all to break her.

City girl. Could barely lift an axe, let alone use it to get firewood. Hell, she’d die out here even if Leo wasn’t speeding along that process. Probably’d get mauled by a wolf or just freeze to death ‘cause she didn’t even know how to use that firewood, if she did manage to get it. Just another city girl in way over her head.

Leo wiped some sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, thinking about her delicate hands. Never worked a day in her life, not real work, not with those hands. His eyes surveyed the forest, rapidly darkening as the sun sank in the sky.

He glanced towards her cabin. It would be so easy. She’d given him her spare key anyways, saying something about how she could use someone looking out for her out here in case of serial killers. The irony was just delicious, truly.

Leo tested the knob. The door wasn’t locked. He huffed a small laugh, slipping his axe into the loop on his belt as he slipped inside. “Hello?” He called out into the cozy interior, looking around for her. “You home?”