Darkness pressed in from every side.
Not empty. Not silent. Heavy.
It wrapped around Tracy like something with intent, something aware. The kind of darkness that didn’t just hide things—it waited.
Her breathing broke through it first.
Sharp. Uneven.
Pain followed immediately, a dull pounding behind her eyes as consciousness forced its way back. Then came the burn—her wrists, pulled tight behind the chair, rope digging deep into her skin with every slight movement.
Her eyes snapped open.
Nothing.
Only black.
For a moment, her thoughts scattered, struggling to form anything clear. Then—
It all came back.
The house.
The necklace.
The ambush.
Her body jerked forward violently, the chair scraping faintly against the ground as the ropes snapped her back into place.
“Let me go!” he
