– Livana –
Steel slid into place with a soft, mechanical sigh as I pressed the controls. Bars sealed the windows. Doors locked with the finality of a chess move that could not be undone. The house shifted from home to fortress in less than a breath.
"Let's go to the basement," I told Damien.
He reacted instantly, lifting the twins from the floor as if his arms had been waiting for that command.
"Laura!" he called sharply when she appeared at the top of the stairs in a rush. "Don't damn run!"
Fear makes people careless. Carelessness kills.
I led them down. Damien started the golf cart. Laura climbed in with the twins pressed to her chest. I followed, the hum of the engine vibrating through my bones as we descended into the safer womb beneath our home.
While the cart rolled forward, my mind stayed behind—at the garden, at the barking, at the scream that still echoed in my ears.
