Chapter 32: Into the Dark

The moment Alexander ran outside, the heavy front door slammed shut behind him, leaving the house in an eerie, suffocating silence.

Lena stood frozen, staring at the door as the echo faded.

“He shouldn’t have gone alone,” she whispered.

Mrs. Ward gently touched her arm. “Alexander knows these grounds better than anyone. He’s been preparing for this moment his entire life.”

“That doesn’t make it safe,” Lena said, voice trembling. “Someone opened the gate. Someone is already inside the estate.”

Mrs. Ward’s expression tightened, but she kept her voice calm. “Which is why we need to stay exactly where we are.”

Lena forced a shaky breath. “He said to stay with you. So… so I’ll stay. I promise.”

Mrs. Ward nodded once, approvingly. “Good girl. Come.”

She led Lena back into the surveillance room. The monitors flickered with night-vision feeds—grainy black-and-green images of the grounds. Trees swayed. Grass rippled in shadows. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed.

And yet…

Lena’s skin crawled with the unmistakable feeling that someone was watching them.

Mrs. Ward scanned the feeds, her sharp eyes narrowing. “The intruder knows our cameras. They’re avoiding each one carefully.”

“That means…” Lena swallowed hard, “they’ve been here before.”

Mrs. Ward hesitated. “…Yes.”

Lena wrapped her arms around herself. “I can’t stop thinking about the necklace. My mother wore it. Why would she have a symbol from this… Split Circle?”

Mrs. Ward sighed deeply. “That, my dear, is a complicated story.”

“I want the truth,” Lena insisted. “All of it.”

Mrs. Ward studied her for a moment, then motioned toward a wooden chair.

“Sit.”

Lena sat, heart pounding.

Mrs. Ward lowered herself beside her.

“Your mother,” she began softly, “was not just an ordinary woman, Lena.”

Lena blinked. “What do you mean?”

“She was… connected. More than she ever told you. More than she told anyone.”

Lena’s pulse quickened. “Connected to what?”

Mrs. Ward reached into a drawer and pulled out an old photograph. She handed it to Lena.

Lena’s breath caught.

It was a picture of her mother.

Younger. Smiling. Standing beside—

Her eyes widened.

“A-Alexander’s father?”

Mrs. Ward nodded.

“Yes.”

Lena felt her world tilt. “Why… why were they together?”

Mrs. Ward lowered her voice. “Years ago, your mother was involved with the Split Circle. Not willingly. She was… trapped in something she couldn’t escape.”

Tears filled Lena’s eyes. “No… she never would have—”

“She was trying to protect you,” Mrs. Ward said gently. “She wore that symbol so the Circle would leave you both alone. It was a mark of neutrality. A warning not to touch the wearer.”

Lena pressed a shaking hand to her mouth.

“So the stalker… they knew my mother?”

Mrs. Ward nodded. “Or at least they knew what her mark meant.”

Lena trembled. “But why target me now?”

Mrs. Ward sighed. “Because they believe your mother broke her allegiance to the Split Circle when she disappeared from their world. And they think you inherited not just the necklace… but her secrets.”

Lena’s heart stuttered painfully. “Secrets? What secrets?”

Mrs. Ward looked away, hesitation clouding her face. “Something your mother hid before you were born.”

Before Lena could press further, a sudden movement flickered across one of the monitors.

Lena shot forward in her seat. “There!”

Mrs. Ward froze the frame.

A shadow moved along the far edge of the property. Not a silhouette—just the faint outline of a figure slipping behind a tree.

“Zoom in,” Lena whispered.

Mrs. Ward tapped the screen, enhancing the image.

The figure was tall. Hooded. Familiar.

Her stomach dropped.

“It’s the same person from the driveway,” she said.

Mrs. Ward leaned closer. “Look at their hand.”

The figure held something small.

A piece of fabric.

White.

Lena’s voice trembled. “It’s the same cloth from earlier.”

Mrs. Ward’s fingers tightened on the desk. “He’s trying to draw Alexander out.”

And then—

The figure stepped into the open.

A shape glinted on their wrist.

A bracelet.

Lena’s breath hitched. “A bracelet… like the one we saw in the footage from my office.”

Mrs. Ward stiffened. “Yes. The one the intruder wore when they broke into your workspace.”

Lena’s heart dropped.

“It’s the same person,” she whispered. “The stalker… they’re here.”

Before Mrs. Ward could respond, a soft chime echoed from the monitor.

One camera on the far side of the house flickered… then went dark.

Then another.

Then another.

Lena stood abruptly, blood cold. “Mrs. Ward… the cameras are shutting down.”

Mrs. Ward grabbed her arm. “That means they’re close. We must lock the panic room.”

“Where is Alexander?” Lena cried, panic tightening her chest.

Before Mrs. Ward could answer—

A voice drifted through the hallway.

A man’s voice.

Calm. Smooth.

Close.

“Lena?”

She went cold from head to toe.

That voice wasn’t Alexander’s.

Mrs. Ward’s grip tightened like iron.

“Do not answer,” she whispered. “Do not move.”

But the voice came again, closer this time—

“I know you’re in here…

I’ve been waiting to meet you.”