Serena’s POV
The house was too quiet when I came back. Not the ordinary kind of quiet that lingered after Ari’s tutor took him away for lessons, but a silence that pressed against the walls as if it was holding its breath, waiting for me to notice.
I climbed the stairs slowly, already picturing a long shower to rinse the garden soil from my hands, maybe even a nap if the weight in my chest allowed it. I reached for the door, expecting the familiar click of the lock, but it wasn’t there the door was ajar, tilted just slightly, as if someone had stepped through without caring enough to close it again.
At first I thought maybe my mother had come in to fetch something, but when I whispered her name into the hallway, the air swallowed it and nothing answered back. A strange chill rippled acr
