The lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the library.
No one spoke.
Then—
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
The slow applause echoed through the room.
My pulse hammered against my ribs.
“Who’s there?”
Damien shouted.
No answer.
Only another clap.
Closer this time.
Lucien immediately pulled me behind him.
“Stay close.”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
The kind of calm that came before violence.
⸻
Emergency lights flickered on.
Dim red light filled the room.
The doorway was empty.
The hallway beyond was deserted.
Yet the applause had stopped.
As if whoever had been there…
Had vanished.
Damien motioned to his security team.
“Sweep the house.”
Within seconds, armed guards disappeared into the corridors.
The rest of us remained frozen.
Listening.
Waiting.
⸻
Arthur Bellamy stared a
