CHAPTER 8: SOFIA’S GAME
312 Words
The garden smelled too perfect.
That was Elize’s first thought.
Nothing here grew naturally. Everything was maintained, trimmed, controlled.
Even the air felt curated.
Sofia DeLuca was already there.
Sitting like she owned the silence.
“You came alone,” Sofia said without looking up.
“I didn’t think I needed permission,” Elize replied.
Sofia finally looked at her.
Not smiling.
Not hostile.
Just studying.
“That’s your first mistake here,” she said.
Elize sat on the bench opposite her.
“Then tell me the rules.”
Sofia tilted her head slightly.
“There’s only one,” she said.
“Don’t assume you’re unseen.”
A pause.
Elize’s gaze sharpened slightly.
“That’s not a rule. That’s paranoia.”
Sofia almost smiled.
“In this house,” she said softly, “they’re the same thing.”
Silence stretched between them.
Then Sofia leaned back.
“You’re being watched more than you think,” she added.
“I already noticed.”
“No,” Sofia corrected.
“You noticed one layer.”
That landed differently.
Elize didn’t respond immediately.
Sofia stood slowly.
“Luca doesn’t bring people here randomly,” she said.
“And when he does…”
She paused.
Her eyes flicked briefly toward the house.
“…they usually don’t leave the same person.”
Then she walked away.
Leaving Elize alone.
But not alone in thought.
Elize stayed seated.
Listening.
And that’s when she heard it.
Not spoken.
Faint.
From somewhere near the hedge line.
“…she doesn’t know yet.”
A second voice responded.
“…she will.”
Elize didn’t turn.
Didn’t move.
But her fingers tightened slightly.
So it wasn’t just surveillance.
It was discussion.
About her.
And she wasn’t meant to hear it.
Slowly, she stood.
And for the first time—
The garden didn’t feel like an open space anymore.
It felt like a perimeter.
- Writer
