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Avery's POV
The creaking came again.
Slower this time.
Closer.
I stopped breathing.
Every muscle in my body tightened, as if the slightest movement could betray me. My eyes locked onto the doorway, unable to look away.
The silence after the sound was worse.
Thick.
Listening.
What if he wasn't dead?
No. That was impossible.
And if it wasn't… then who was?
My fingers dug into the edge of the counter until it hurt.
Real pain.
Necessary.
To keep from unraveling.
"Killian…" I breathed despite myself.
His name died in the air.
A step.
Then another.
The floorboards complained softly, as if they recognized the weight pressing down on them.
My heart pounded so hard it made me nauseous.
I stepped back and hit the table. The noise echoed through the house.
Too loud. Too late.
A silhouette appeared in the hallway.
Tall. Still.
Tears burned behind my eyes.
I knew it.
I had never truly believed in his disappearance. Not really. Not after that look. Not after those words.
"This isn't real…" I whispered, more to myself than to him.
The silhouette moved.
And that movement—
It wasn't his.
A breath.
Human.
"Avery…"
I flinched violently.
That voice.
I knew it.
---
Gabriel's POV
I had been patrolling around the house for a while, and nothing unusual had happened.
Everything was calm.
Strangely calm.
Too calm.
What was he planning?
"Killian… what are you up to?" I muttered to myself.
Tired, I decided to head back inside to cool off. That's when I ran into Lauren in the kitchen.
She had invited me here. Asked for my help once again.
But the way she looked at me made it clear she didn't fully trust me.
Not surprising, considering her past with men like me.
I drifted into my thoughts when a scream tore through the upper floor.
Lauren's.
I ran upstairs immediately.
She was pounding on Avery's bedroom door, knocking over and over with no response.
Something was wrong.
With her temper, Avery would have reacted. She would've shouted back. Snapped. Slammed the door.
Now… nothing.
At the same moment, Daniel opened his bedroom door.
"What's going on, Mom?" he asked.
"Your sister's sulking again," Lauren replied irritably.
"That's weird… this morning she didn't seem that tense. Just really insistent."
I looked up sharply.
"Insistent how?" I asked.
"She wanted to talk to me about something, but I didn't have time," he replied, avoiding my eyes.
"Talk about what?" I pressed.
"I don't know… I was busy."
"Busy doing what?" Lauren asked suspiciously.
"That's private, Mom."
While they argued, a dull sense of dread settled in my chest.
I stepped toward Avery's door and knocked harder.
Again.
And again.
Nothing.
"Gabriel, what is it?" Lauren asked.
"Something's wrong," I said.
I didn't wait for permission.
I kicked the door in.
I knew she was gone before I even saw the empty room.
There was a detail.
Small.
Almost invisible to anyone else.
The silence.
Too clean.
Too controlled.
"Avery?" I called.
No answer.
The door had been locked from the inside.
The bed was made.
Her pajamas left on the chair.
She had left.
A curse slipped under my breath.
She shouldn't have been able to get out.
Not without me knowing.
Not without someone seeing her.
I crossed the living room quickly. The front door was intact. Guarded.
She hadn't gone that way.
But a faint mark on the wooden floor caught my eye.
Light. Almost erased.
I followed it.
To the secondary door leading outside.
She had thought it through.
That was a bad sign.
I stepped out onto the terrace. The lake was still, indifferent.
The road disappeared behind the trees.
"Damn it…"
My jaw tightened.
She had gone back to town.
I could feel it.
---
Avery's POV
The floor groaned again.
This time I grabbed the knife lying just behind me.
Nothing proved I wasn't imagining things again.
I didn't dare turn around.
Even though I recognized that breath, the unease wouldn't leave me.
Then the silhouette stepped forward into the light.
And I finally saw his face.
"Avery…"
I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second.
"Jackson…"
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