Chapter Ten – The Footsteps
The first creak was soft, almost dismissible. A natural settling of the old house, I told myself. Wood shifting, pipes murmuring, nothing more.
But then came the second sound. A deliberate weight. A measured pause. A step.
Footsteps.
Daniel’s footsteps.
I froze where I stood in the dim hallway outside Adrian’s room, my breath trapped in my chest. Adrian’s hand was on my wrist, his eyes locked on mine, sharp and calm even as tension threaded the air between us.
“Stay still,” he mouthed.
But my heart betrayed me, pounding so violently I was sure it would echo down the hall.
The footsteps grew closer, steady, unhurried. Daniel wasn’t rushing. He wasn’t storming. He was stalking. Each measured step felt like a test, a countdown, a tightening rope.
“What if
