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Chapter 10: The Knock at the Door
The house had found its rhythm.
Morning meant Ari padding through the halls in her nightgown, tugging Ace by the sleeve to help her open curtains so the golden light could spill into the vast, empty rooms. Afternoons meant experiments in the kitchen with Ace glaring at the stove as if it were a demon itself, Ari cheering whenever the smoke wasn't too thick.
The fridge grew lighter by the day. Boxes emptied. Jars clinked hollow. Ari noticed, but in her own way. "It's like hide and seek," she told him brightly. "Every day there's less hiding." Ace did not smile, though he was learning.
The greatest triumph had been the "queen of buttons." It sat like a jewel on the couch arm, black and sleek. Ari had crowned it proudly: "The queen rules the picture-box!" Ace had only stared, baffled, until she pressed one of its gems and the screen bloomed into color.
That was how they found the cooking channel.
Each evening, Ace tried. Ari sat on the counter, legs swinging, narrating proudly. "First he burns it black, then he burns it less black, and then—ta-da—it's food!" He was improving, though the meals were still rough, still strange. Yet Ari ate them all, licking her fingers, declaring, "Better than ice."
The silence of the mansion no longer pressed on them. It was always filled with smoke, with laughter, with the echo of voices from the picture-box.
Until the knock came.
It was a sharp sound, echoing down the marble halls.
Ari's head popped up from where she was arranging crayons in a neat rainbow line. "Someone's here!"
Ace stilled, eyes narrowing. No one came here.
The knock came again, firmer.
Before he could rise, Ari scrambled to her feet. "I'll get it!" she sang, dashing down the hallway. Her curls flew, her bare feet slapped against polished floors.
She seized the heavy door handle with both hands and pulled with all her might. The hinges groaned. Light spilled into the hall.
Her eyes went wide opened and then lit up.
"Mara!" she squealed.
The word rang through the house like a bell. Who was Mara and what relationship does she have with Ari ace thought in his mind
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