Nighttime Fear

"I come at a cost," Lennox said coldly, using his long, icy fingers to lift Claire's chin. The smoothness of her skin under his fingertips added a deeper intensity to his gaze.

Before Claire could comprehend, her mother's voice sounded again, this time much closer. "Claire, are you in there?"

Upon hearing Margaret's voice outside the bathroom, Claire had no time to contemplate the meaning of Lennox's mentioned "cost." She quickly nodded in agreement, then released him and hurriedly walked out. "Mom, I'm here!"

After striking some kind of deal with Lennox to secure his silence, Claire let him go and briskly went out to intercept her mother.

Regardless, overcoming the immediate crisis was the most crucial thing at the moment.

"Why were you so quiet in the bathroom? I thought you had gone out again," Margaret reproached gently, but as she looked at Claire emerging from the bathroom, she smiled tenderly.

"I was just washing my face," Claire grinned and casually explained, reaching out to