Isaac stepped out of the room, balancing a tray in his hands. The click of the door latch echoed in the stillness of the hallway. A deep frown creased his brow. The memory of her unexpected tenderness gnawed at him. The way she had held him, stroking his hair as if he were a child, was not the Victoria he knew. The cold, calculating matriarch he understood would never show such vulnerability. This unanticipated crack in her armor left him unsettled and bewildered.
As he made his way downstairs, his mind replayed the events, turning them over with quiet satisfaction. Everything had unfolded as intended. And yet the speed of it nagged at him. He had slipped a torn piece of the Lust page into her juice, expecting the Elixir of Eros to take at least an hour to activate, just as the Book had described. Instead it had taken mere minutes.
Was there something about the ability he was missing?
He set the tray down in the kitchen and disposed of everything on it, wiping the counter clean before stepping back.
Guess I'll have to review it again, he thought, tucking the uncertainty away for later.
His confidence in the other ability, however, was unwavering. Honeyed Whisper had worked seamlessly. The soft, persuasive edge it lent to his words had made even the most unreasonable request sound completely natural. That had been the key that unlocked the entire performance. The subtle push that made her believe she had asked him to bring the juice when, in fact, she had not.
All things considered, it had gone better than he expected.
He headed back upstairs leading to his own room. Halfway through the hall, he paused, his gaze settling on Emma's closed door. Relief moved through him quietly. Victoria's room sat too far down the opposite wing of the house for any sound to carry unless someone had been screaming. Still, the sight of that shut door gave him a measure of reassurance.
He pushed open his bedroom door and stepped inside, the soft click behind him feeling like a final punctuation to the afternoon's events.
What Isaac failed to notice was the silent figure crouched beneath the kitchen counter, watching his every move through the narrow gap between the cabinet doors.
*********
The front door of the Wilson house swung open dramatically, and Jade swaggered inside, her face twisted in annoyance.
"I cannot believe Emi made me carry all these bags," she muttered, shifting the straps that dug into her fingers. "And I just got my nails done. Unbelievable."
With a swift kick, she shut the door, dumping the shopping bags onto the living room couch and exhaling a long sigh.
"Well... she does have a nice ass," she admitted reluctantly. "And she is my best friend. Fine. I will let it slide."
Jade pulled out her phone and sent a quick text.
Jade: Alright, I am in.
Five seconds later, her phone buzzed.
Emily: awww thank you ♡. I will be back in like 2 hours. just need 2 grab everything 4 the project. luv u
Jade rolled her eyes, a playful smirk curling her lips. "Love you, she says... after making me haul half the mall."
Tucking her phone into her pocket, she scanned the living room, noting its eerie stillness.
Too quiet.
"One too many silent moments here," she whispered. "Guess my plan of chilling in the living room will be no fun. I will just head upstairs."
She grabbed the shopping bags again and made her way upstairs. Emily's door was unlocked, her usual signal that Jade could barge in whenever she pleased. She stepped inside, dumped the bags near the bed.
"Alright, princess," she mumbled, glancing around. "Let us see what you actually bought and what junk you made me carry..."
But she froze as her eyes took in the dimness of the room.
Emily's curtains were drawn, the desk light off, casting the space in shadowy haze that thickened the air.
Something felt off.
Shaking off her discomfort, Jade forced a nervous laugh. "Girl, you are being dramatic. Just drop the bags and chill."
But then a faint sound echoed from downstairs. A soft thunk followed by the sound of glass shifting, as if someone were moving cups. Since the door was still open, the noise carried directly into the room.
Jade stiffened, the sound reverberating in the unsettling silence, making her heart race against her ribs.
"Okay, nope... that is definitely not normal," she whispered, stepping into the hallway to listen more intently.
Another sound. A faint clink, like someone rearranging dishes, set her skin prickling.
The house should not feel this big, this empty, not with Victoria, Isaac, and Emma still inside. Yet right now, it felt like she was walking through a haunted museum.
Taking a careful step down the stairs, she called softly, "Hello...?"
No answer.
Just that quiet clatter again. This time coming from the kitchen.
Jade moved toward it, her steps cautious, every muscle in her body coiled tight. She rounded the corner and her eyes landed on an arm sticking straight up from behind the kitchen counter.
The scream that tore out of her was completely involuntary.
"OH MY GOD!"
The figure shot upright so fast that Jade stumbled backward, grabbing the wall to keep herself from falling. Then the face came into view and she recognized who it was.
Emma.
"Emma!" Jade clutched her chest with both hands, feeling her heart slamming against her ribs. "What are you doing down there? You just scared the life out of me!"
Emma looked at her with that same unbothered expression she always wore. "Oh. You are back."
"Yes I am back!" Jade exhaled sharply, still catching her breath. "I nearly had a full heart attack just now. I thought you were some kind of intruder or something. Why were you on the floor?"
Emma held up the cup in her hand. "This rolled under the counter. I was picking it up."
Jade stared at the cup for a moment, then let out a long breath. "Okay. Fine. That makes sense."
She turned and started back toward the stairs. But something made her stop.
She turned around slowly. "Actually wait. How come I didn't see you when I first came in? I walked right past here."
Emma shrugged lightly. "I wasn't in the kitchen. I was at the back. Just came inside when you walked past."
Jade held her gaze for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Okay. That tracks."
She stood there for a second longer, as if deciding whether that answer was good enough. Then she let it go, leaning against the wall with a dramatic sigh.
"Big houses are creepy, you know. I don't get how Emi survives in this place. They're cool and all, but the thought of staying here alone? Instant goosebumps."
Emma looked at her blankly. "It is just a house."
"Yeah, well, tell that to my poor soul," Jade grumbled. "I swear the walls echo too much."
Emma tilted her head slightly. "Maybe you should just go upstairs."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm going."
Scoffing under her breath, Jade pushed off the wall and headed up the stairs, her earlier annoyance creeping back with every step.
The moment she reached Emily's room again she made sure to close the door, then nudged the bags out of her way with her foot and flopped onto the bed, grabbing Emily's phone.
Jade to Emily: Girl, you had better head back fast.
No reply came.
Rolling her eyes, she muttered, "Of course. Miss Responsible is probably knee-deep in those stupid project materials."
Alone now, Jade wasted no time getting comfortable. She stripped off her jeans and kicked them somewhere near the closet, then rummaged through Emily's wardrobe, pulling out a loose cropped vest that fit perfectly.
"Huh. At least Emi has decent taste," she remarked, glancing at her reflection with a self-satisfied grin.
She turned to the shopping bags piled beside the bed.
"Yeah... that can wait."
Flopping onto Emily's bed, she stretched out and decided, "Let us see if the new episode of The Vampire Diaries dropped. I have been waiting all week for this."
Since she had not brought her laptop, she reached for Emily's instead, flipping it open.
What was her password again? Oh, right.
Typing it in, the home screen illuminated. Jade quickly opened her streaming site and found the show she had been craving.
"Yesss, it is out!" she exclaimed, pressing play.
Dramatic background music filled the room as she settled back into the pillows. For the next thirty minutes, Jade became utterly absorbed, snacking on Emily's candy stash and cursing at plot twists, feeling as though she belonged there.
Then, a knock at the door.
Jade froze, mid eye roll at the screen.
She glanced at the clock on Emily's laptop.
"Thirty minutes? Are you serious?"
Her annoyance flared instantly.
"Oh, it better not be Emma," she hissed. "If she does not give me a solid reason for interrupting me, I swear..."
She did not finish, aware that she would never actually confront Emma.
Still grumbling, Jade swung her legs off the bed and stomped toward the door, her expression already set to maximum annoyance.
Yanking the door open, she blurted, "What..."
But she stopped short.
It was not Emma.