chapter five

The scream cut off too suddenly.

Not faded. Not drowned out. Just… gone.

The lights flickered again, longer this time, and when they steadied, the house felt like it was holding its breath with us.

Jacxs finished locking the back door and jogged over. “Garage is sealed. Windows too.”

I nodded, trying to keep my voice steady for Julia’s sake. “Good. Stay away from the glass.”

Julia clutched my shirt. “Where’s Daddy?”

That one hit hard. I swallowed. “He’s… probably stuck somewhere safe. We’re going to be smart until he comes back.”

I hated how much that sounded like a lie, even to me.

The TV crackled back to life on its own—no anchor now, just a city map lit up in red clusters, spreading like spilled ink. A robotic voice repeated instructions on loop. Stay inside. Avoid contact. Do not attempt rescue unless directed.

“Unless directed,” Jacxs muttered. “That’s comforting.”

A loud bang echoed from somewhere down the street.

Then another.

Closer.

Julia whimpered. I scooped her up and backed toward the hallway. “Upstairs. All of us. My room has the least windows.”

We moved fast but quiet, every floorboard creak suddenly sounding illegal. From my bedroom window, the street looked wrong. Cars abandoned at crooked angles. A streetlight blinking like it was deciding whether to give up.

Then I saw movement.

A figure stumbled into the cone of light, jerky, unbalanced. It stopped. Tilted its head. Then another appeared behind it.

And another.

Jacxs sucked in a breath. “That’s not… normal.”

A crash sounded from a few houses away—glass shattering, followed by shouting. Real shouting. Panicked. Human.

It cut short.

Julia buried her face in my shoulder. I held her tighter, my arms aching, my heart hammering so loud I was sure it could be heard from outside.

My phone buzzed again.

A text this time.

Dad: Torrie. Stay inside. Lock everything. I’m trying to get back. I love you both.

Relief hit first—sharp and dizzy—then fear slammed in right after.

Trying.

I showed Jacxs the message. He nodded, jaw set. “Okay. He’s alive. That’s something.”

Another thud hit the front door.

Not hard enough to break it. Yet.

Something scraped along the outside wall, slow and deliberate, like fingers testing.

Julia whispered, barely audible, “Sissy… I’m scared.”

“I know,” I said, pressing my forehead to hers. “But you’re not alone. I promise.”

Downstairs, the door handle rattled.

Once.

Twice.

Then stopped.

Silence rushed back in, thicker than before.

Jacxs grabbed the nearest thing he could find—a metal drum stand—and held it like he meant business. “If it gets in,” he said quietly, “we don’t freeze.”

I nodded. My hands curled into fists.

The city outside was falling apart, piece by piece.

And inside this house, three kids waited, listening, hoping the locks would hold long enough for morning—or for Dad—to come back.

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