He heard something.
It was the sound of breath. Panicked, labored, with the slightest touch of a whimper.
Anthony looked purposefully around the room. “Is someone here?” he called out. But he could see no one.
Then he heard it again. From below.
Holding his own candle steady, he crouched down to peer under the table.
And his breath was sucked right out of his body.
“My God,” he gasped. “Kate.”
She was curled up into a ball, her arms wrapped around her bent legs so tightly it looked as if she were about to shatter. Her head was bent down, her eye sockets resting on her knees, and her entire body was shaking with fast, intense tremors.
Anthony’s blood ran to ice. He’d never seen someone shake like that.
“Kate?” he said again, setting his candle down on the floor as he moved closer.
