A game. A husband and wife game. Gerald's Game.

But this time Jesse doesn't want to play. Lying there, spread-eagled and handcuffed to the bedstead while he looms and drools over her, she feels angry and humiliated. So she kicks out hard.

Aims to hit him where it hurts. He isn't meant to die, leaving Jesse alone and helpless in a lakeside holiday cabin. Miles from anywhere.

No-one to hear her screams. Alone. Except for the stray dog that smells her blood, the voices in her head which begin to chatter, and the board which creaks stealthily at nightfall, signalling that something or someone else is close by.