Blanche was dressed in a blue athletic tracksuit—the kind with the colors of The Crimson Star Banner—and she went bounding down the stairs with a rhythmic, heavy thud. The vibration of her small feet was enough to trigger the motion-sensor lights in the hallway, waking them up one by one in a series of dim, amber flashes.
When she reached the landing at the turn of the stairs, she paused for a brief second and looked up. She caught Ethan Gray's eyes and offered him a wide, genuine grin. Then, with two more exuberant hops, she vanished into the shadows of the lower floor.
It was the first time he had seen her truly smile all day.
Ethan waited for a moment, listening to the fading echo of her footsteps, making sure she wasn't going to pull a U-turn and come back for more banter. When the
