The phone lay on the floor, its screen still glowing. Aria stared at it, her heart racing fast. The words burned in her mind: Check your bedroom, Aria. I've already been there.
For a moment, she couldn't move. The silence in the apartment pressed heavy around her. Then, somewhere deeper inside, she heard it again, a soft creak. Like a door easing open.
Her body stiffened. She forced herself to breathe slowly. Fear was dangerous; it made mistakes. She couldn't afford mistakes now.
Aria picked up the phone and slipped it into her pocket. Her heels were too loud on the marble floor, so she bent and took them off. Barefoot, she moved through the dim apartment.
Every shadow felt alive. Every reflection in the tall windows seemed to watch her.
At the end of the hall stood her bedroom. The door was half-open. A thin strip of darkness spilled out, deeper than the shadows in the hall.
