"Bring me millions, Daddy!" Lila called, her voice bright but swallowed by the start of the engine. She hopped on one foot, clutching a dandelion she'd plucked from the garden, its seeds drifting like tiny parachutes.
Nate Cross leaned against the car door, a snake-charmer's grin already disarming his wife's pre-gala stress. "Billions, kiddo! Enough to buy you a herd of unicorns and save every rare animal from those pesky hunters. Rhinos, pandas, you name it!"
"Be good for Carla, Lila-bug," Mom said, her voice a rushed melody as she blew a kiss. Her hand rested on the big curve of her belly. Even all dressed up, with her hair done fancy for Dad's big night, a piece of it had come loose and fallen across her face. Lila thought it made her look more like the mom who baked cookies than the one who argued on the phone all day.
The SUV's taillights started moving away, swallowed by the curve of the driveway. Like the end of a story.
Goldie, the family's golden retriever – more golden than retriever, with a goofy streak, a perpetually wet nose, and a prosthetic hind leg – barreled across the lawn, nearly knocking Lila over.
"Lila's twin," everyone called her because she was born the same day as Lila.
The dog's tail wagged like a metronome, and she nudged Lila's hand, dropping a glove at her feet. Lila squealed, snatching it up. "Goldie, you thief! This isn't even mine!" She dangled the glove, laughing as Goldie pranced, her golden fur catching the last of the sunset.
"C'mon, you silly goose," Lila said, tossing the glove toward the backyard. Goldie tore after it, her paws kicking up clumps of grass. Lila followed, her sneakers forgotten by the porch, the blades tickling her toes. The backyard stretched wide, bordered by a low stone wall and a garden bursting with roses Jema tended religiously. The air carried the faint buzz of cicadas and the sugary promise of baked cookies wafting from the kitchen window.
"Go fetch, Goldie," Lila hurled a tennis ball, expecting Goldie to chase it. Instead, the dog returned with a dirt-streaked garden gnome, dropping it proudly at Lila's feet. Lila doubled over, laughing. "Goldie, you're hopeless! It's fetch, not 'find random junk!'" Goldie tilted her head, tongue lolling, and Lila scratched behind her ears, the fur warm and soft under her fingers. "Okay, fine. Secret mission time," she whispered, her eyes glinting with mischief. "We're stealing cookies later. Chocolate chip for Jace, oatmeal for you. Deal?" Goldie yipped, nudging Lila's knee as if sealing the pact.
Inside the mansion, the kitchen was a warzone of flour and chaos. The Italian chef, Marco, bellowed into his phone, his accent thick as the dough being kneaded on the counter by a robot and a sous chef. The oven radiated heat, and the air was thick with the scent of melting chocolate and sugar, curling around Lila like a warm blanket.
She crept past the island, her small frame ducking low, Goldie trailing with a wagging tail that threatened to betray their mission. "Quiet down, Goldie," she said as she inched towards the tray.
Lila's fingers grazed the cooling rack, snagging two chocolate chip cookies for Jace and an oatmeal cookie for Goldie. She crumbled a piece of the oatmeal cookie, tossing it to Goldie, whose jaws snapped it up midair, tail thumping the floor.
"Caught you, piccola ladra," came a voice, sharp but not unkind. Carla, the nanny, loomed in the doorway, her arms crossed, her dark braid swinging. Her eyes, usually warm, held a strange edge tonight. "Stealing cookies brings monsters and trouble, Nina."
Lila froze, a cookie halfway to her mouth, her heart tripping. "Just one, Carla, I promise!" she said, flashing her best innocent grin. Carla's lips twitched as she waved Lila off, muttering about kids and sugar. Lila bolted out of the kitchen, Goldie at her heels.
Lila's sneakers thudded up the mansion's polished staircase, crumbs of chocolate chip cookies trailing from her clenched fist. "Let's go, Jace is waiting for us, he's gonna love these," she giggled, all bright and giddy.
Halfway up the stairs, Goldie started barking. Lila stopped and looked around. The silence was heavy when Goldie stopped.
A deafening crash shattered the quiet. Wood splinters flew across the foyer below. Lila's heart slammed against her ribs. Goldie's ears perked, a low growl rumbling in her chest as she turned toward the commotion. Lila reached for her collar, but Goldie slipped free, darting down the stairs, barking wildly.
"No, Goldie!" Lila hissed, creeping to the banister. She peered down, her breath catching.
Carla slumped against the wall, a scary, dark trickle coming from her forehead. She was shaking her head, her eyes wide and locked right on Lila. Marco lay sprawled nearby, his apron twisted, not moving. Big men in boots moved through the foyer, crunching on broken wood. One voice, sharp and cold, cut through the air. "Find them. Now."
Lila's legs shook as she bolted back upstairs, Goldie's cries and whimpers tearing at her heart, her pulse roaring in her ears. She burst into Jace's room, where he sat cross-legged, nose buried in a comic book, his wide eyes gleaming with adventure. "Jace!" she whispered, shoving a chocolate chip cookie into his hand.
"We gotta play hide-and-seek… right now!" her voice shaky as she tried to remain calm.
Jace's face lit up, oblivious to the danger. "Hide-and-seek? I'm so gonna win!" he said, voice too loud, his grin all innocence. Lila grabbed his arm, pulling him toward the hallway. "Shh, come on!"
She ran back to shut the bedroom doors behind them, her hands trembling, trying to buy time. But when she turned, Jace was gone, his comic book abandoned on the floor.
"Jace?" she whispered, panic rising. She scanned the hall, her mind racing. She looked in her room, the window that led to the roof, Jace's closet, rushed up the attic stairs, no Jace.
Then it hit her, the forbidden room. Last winter, Dad had caught them sneaking into a secret space in their parents' bedroom, his voice stern. "Never come back here."
Jace, stubborn as always, loved hiding there. It was his spot.
Lila sprinted to their parents' room, past the bathroom where Dad's electric razor buzzed on the counter, its hum slicing the silence. Mom always yelled at him about leaving it on before she turned it off; she did every time, but not today.
Lila pushed into the closet, a wall of dresses and suits looming like ghosts. At the far end, a full-length mirror gleamed, cold and unyielding. She fingered the little button Jace had shown her. It clicked, but nothing happened.
She heard voices, low and heavy, rippling through the walls and floors, getting closer.
Click, click, click.
A budge.
"Jace!" Lila hissed, her voice barely a breath, looking around the room with weird benches and leather straps. A giggle answered from under a bench, where Jace peeked out, his comic book clutched tight. "You found me!" he whispered, eyes sparkling.
"Shh!" Lila dropped to her knees, grabbing his shoulders. "Quiet, Jace. Bad men are coming. Bonus points if you're super quiet, okay?" Jace nodded, still half in his game, but his grin faded at her fear. Her hand clamped over Jace's mouth. Her heart thudded so loud she swore it'd give them away.
Lila's eyes stayed glued to the door. Her mind drifted to Goldie, Marco, and Carla. No sounds beyond the loud, strange thuds.
'Dad and mom are on their way,' she thought. Goldie would've barked if she were here. Daddy always said Goldie could chase off monsters, but Goldie wasn't here, and neither was Mommy. Lila tried to whisper a joke the way Jace would, but her voice stuck in her throat.
With her hand cold and heart beating out of her chest, she walked to the glass door that allowed you to see the closet from inside, but was just a mirror from the closet.
Her breath hitched as heavy boots stomped close, louder now, thudding through the parents' bedroom. Low, sharp voices echoed. She couldn't make out the words, but the tone was clear. They were hunting.
Lila's pulse roared in her ears, her fingers tightening on Jace's shoulder. She strained to hear where the men were. A flashlight beam sliced through the bedroom, sweeping across the bathroom door.
The faint, incessant buzz of Dad's electric razor hummed from the counter, cutting the silence like a warning. Lila cursed herself for not turning it off when she'd passed it. Mom would've. The boots paused. "You hear that?" a gruff voice snapped from the other room. Lila froze, her stomach twisting. Another man grunted something she couldn't hear. But the steps grew louder, deliberate, crossing into the bathroom. The razor's buzz grew sharper, like a swarm of bees trapped in the walls.
Lila's eyes darted to the mirror as a man's shadow loomed into the closet, his flashlight beam dancing across the closet door. He stepped inside, his silhouette hulking among the clothes, hangers clattering as he shoved jackets aside.
"There's something here, I see stuff in the mirror," he muttered, his voice low and strange.
Lila held her breath, Jace fidgeting under her grip, sensing the danger. The boots scuffed closer, stopping dead in front of the mirror. His face was hard, scarred, eyes wild, looking right into the glass. "There's something in this mirror," he growled, his voice dripping with suspicion. "Like… like angels or some shit." Another man scoffed from the doorway, his voice slightly muffled. "It's a damn mirror, Lobo. We gotta go."
He didn't move; he palmed the mirror, his fingers tracing the mirror's edge, nails scraping like claws.
Lila's heart stopped as the scruffy hand hovered near the hidden button low on the wall. "Please stay quiet, Jace," she pleaded, crawling to the door and pressing against it to check the locks with sweaty palms.
The flashlight beam jittered for a pause, then.
Bang, bang!
Two gunshots exploded, the sound punching through Lila's chest. The mirror shuddered, dents blooming where bullets hit, but it didn't shatter. "The hell?" Lobo hissed. "This ain't no normal mirror."
"Lobo, move!" the other man barked, his voice sharp with nerves. "We got other rooms!" But Lobo was relentless, palming the glass, his fingers frantic, searching for a seam. Lila's breath caught as his hand brushed the button.
A soft click echoed. The mirror slid open.
"No!" Lila shouted, her voice cracking with terror. She lunged away from him, trying to draw the men to her, her sneakers pounding the closet floor as she darted toward the bedroom door. But a man was faster, snatching her mid-stride, his arm like a vice around her waist. She twisted, waving wildly, her arm connecting with something soft. He roared, doubling over, but his grip didn't loosen.
"You little—"
The butt of his gun cracked against her head. She shrieked, blood trickling warm down her temple, her vision started blurring, causing her to stumble, but defiance burned through the haze. She spat in his direction, her voice ragged. The other intruder stood over her, hovering, not sure what to do. "Jesus, Lobo."
Jace bolted out before Lila could stop him, comic book raised like a shield. "Leave my sister alone!" he yelled, charging at the legs of the man called Lobo.
Lobo had Jace now, the boy squirming in his arms, a comic book crumpled on the floor. "Jesus, Lobo, they're kids!" the partner cursed, his voice shaky.
"This wasn't the plan, the nanny, the kid, are you crazy!"
"Shut it. They're just leverage." He yanked Jace tighter, ignoring the boy's whimpers, and shoved Lila toward his partner. "Get her. Quick."
Lila's head throbbed, the room spinning, but she fought as rough hands bound her wrists with plastic ties that bit into her skin. Jace cried now, the game shattered, his little face streaked with tears. "Lila..."
"It's okay," she whispered, her voice breaking, even as fear clawed at her throat. The metallic tang of blood mixed with the closet's faint cedar scent.
Lobo pulled out his phone, forcing the kids to kneel in front of the shattered mirror. "Smile for Mommy and Daddy," he sneered, snapping a photo. The flash was blinding, capturing their terror in harsh white light. He tapped the screen and smiled. "Smile, kids, this is a multi-million snapshot."