8ClarityI jog to the top of the staircase, my boots clacking beneath me. Each step echoes, urging me faster.
I reach the top, and pause. A jolt of awareness ripples through me, lifting the hair on my arms like hackles. It seizes my limbs and renders me completely still.
My hand is half-raised to the tarp that separates the staircase from the living room. My fingertips graze the waxy, brown vinyl. I draw them back.
Something feels different.
The air has thinned. A new energy buzzes over my skin. I tilt my ear to the flap and hear murmurs. Sneakers pacing. The whisper of a page being turned.
My hearing sharpens, and I imagine fingernails sifting through hair, heartbeats even and slow.
Jayce giggles. Suspicion wafts away from me on an exhale, evaporating into the black.
I push through
