Naomi's POV
The days were more calm now.
No alarm.
No secret messages were left under our door.
No hints of trouble lurking around the corner.
Nothing but sunlight spilling through open windows, the smell of pancakes from the kitchen, and the laughter of Miranda echoing through the corridors.
It was, for the first time in a long while, normal.
And somehow it was even scarier than all we had suffered.
……….
I was barefooted, standing amidst the dewy lawn of the garden, as I saw Miranda running with a yellow kite. I heard her laughter carry into the warm atmosphere, a high clear note.
Raymond stepped up close to me, his arms wrapped around my waist, his chest a solid, heat-filled wall against mine.
She's happy," he muttered into my hair.
I sat up straight, letting the brutal tru
