ARI'S POINT OF VIEW
Night. Again.
It always feels like night comes faster these days. The sky turns dark, and something in me hardens instantly. Like the shadows remind me that I survived too much to soften again. I was upstairs, trying to distract myself with a book I wasn’t even reading, when I heard a rustle downstairs. Very light. Uncertain. Like someone whispering or someone trying to tiptoe.
My body went cold. It was not fear. It was instinct. Mother instinct. That old buried reflex that comes uninvited even when I don’t want it.
And before I could tell myself to calm down, I was already heading downstairs. Silent. Careful. Watching every step I took.
I stood behind the wall near the living room entry… and then leaned slightly forward.
And there they were.
Maxine. By the windo
