Kay left for work a little after seven. The sound of the door closing behind him seemed louder than usual.... heavier, somehow, final, like the kind of sound that meant something was about to happen. The moment the latch clicked, the whole apartment seemed to exhale… and then fall into a silence that wasn’t calm or comforting. It was the kind that sat in your chest..... thick, waiting, almost tense, like the air itself was holding its breath.
I stood there for a moment, staring at the door he’d just walked through, trying to shake off the uneasy feeling curling at the edge of my stomach. Usually, as soon as he left, the house would come alive with Ava’s presence.... humming in the kitchen, her voice too bright for the morning, asking pointless questions just to hear herself talk. But that
