SOFIA
The change was immediate. It wasn't announced or explained; it was simply applied.
The next morning, my door didn’t open when I tried it. I stood there for a second, hand still on the handle, not moving and not pulling again just registering the resistance. Then, a soft click echoed through the wood. It unlocked.
I opened it to find someone already there. It wasn't Clara, but one of the men. He was positioned directly outside, not stepping aside this time or creating space. He just stood there, immovable.
“New protocol,” he said.
“That’s vague.”
“It’s intentional.”
Of course it was. I stepped into the hallway anyway, and he moved with me. Not ahead, not behind, aligned. That was new. The house had always guided movement, redirecting it and containing it without making it obvio
