I stared back.
And then it shuddered violently, something slamming into it with bone-breaking force.
I screamed, stumbling back as the wood quaked. Panic jolted me to the kitchen. My fingers scrambled across the counter, searching for my phone.
Another crash came again, reverberating through the house. I fumbled with my phone and dropped it, bending with shaking limbs to snatch it up again, never tearing my eyes away from the door.
Before I could dial, the screen lit up with an incoming call from Thrax. Perfect timing.
“Is something wrong?” Thrax’s voice cut sharp into my ear the moment I answered.
“I—I think...” I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing in a breath.
“Talk to me,Nher.Where are you now?” His background was loud, his words uneven.
“In the house.” My eyes clung to the door, words rushing out of me. “There’s something outside. First, I heard a child crying and a body lying on the floor. The car. Something hit the car. Now, that something is banging against the—”
BOOM!!!
The door cracked, the wood splitting down the centre. My breath locked in my chest.
“Sanora, Sanora. Listen to me,” he instructed. “Focus on my voice.”
I braced for the next impact as I remained focused on the door. “Yes?” The storm’s roar outside was deafening, my heartbeat matching it.
“Stand straight on your feet.”
“I am stand—” My eyes dropped, realising I was crouched low beside the counter. With my legs shaking, I managed to balance on my feet. “Done.”
“Now grab a knife.”
My throat worked as I nodded, stumbling to the drawer. My hand closed around the longest blade I could find. “Done.”
“Good.” His breath tore in ragged bursts. Was he running? Running back here?
The final blow came, shattering the wood from its frame. The door collapsed inward in a deafening crash, followed by a gust of cold air.
A scream ripped out of me as I pressed against the drawer, the knife trembling in my grip.
Where the door had been was now a gaping void, the storm spilling in.
Silence.
No movement.
“The door—” I choked.
“You’ll do what I tell you right now, is that clear?” Thrax commanded.
I nodded, too focused on the gaping doorway to form words.
“Run.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
SANORA
With blind trust, I bolted out of the house through the broken doorway, half-expecting a creature to lunge at me from the dark. But the street outside was empty. Too empty and silent.
