✦Dolly✦
The house was too dark. Not normal dark. Not night dark. Not the kind of dark that settled in corners when the lights were off, and everyone was asleep. This darkness was thick. Heavy. Wrong. It pressed against my skin the moment I stumbled through the front door. The cold followed, sliding over my arms and down my spine until my whole body locked in place. I stood in the entrance hall with my hand still gripping the door handle.
The house was silent.
No soft hum from the fridge. No old pipes settling. No quiet footsteps upstairs. No whisper of my father’s magic moving through the walls like it sometimes did when he checked the wards at night.
Nothing.
“Hello?” I called out. My voice sounded small. Too small. I swallowed and stepped farther inside. The front door swung shut be
