Storm-Worn Hearts
The house doesn’t feel like a house after midnight. It becomes a listening animal, every vent a throat, every window an eye, every shadow a place something could hide inside. The air tastes metallic, like fear has a mineral in it, like it leaves residue on your tongue.
Kellan’s voice is steady in the hallway, the kind of steady that makes panic feel embarrassed. “Miles, pull the original file if you can. Screenshot isn’t enough if we want metadata. Jace, Rowan, perimeter, but you do not leave the property line. Dawson, stay inside.”