Page 7 of Maddening Fixation

That night, when the ballroom was alive with music, laughter, and celebration, I quietly slipped away under the guise of getting some fresh air.

In truth, I was heading upstairs to retrieve the last suitcase hidden beneath Sarah’s bed.

Within the hour, we’d be gone.

We would never set foot in Flynn Manor again

Then I heard it.

A heavy thud.

Not loud.

Just...

Wrong.

Every instinct inside me came alive.

My heartbeat exploded in my ears.

I was already running before my mind understood why.

“Sarah!”

My voice echoed through the corridors as I sprinted up the grand staircase two steps at a time.

Portraits of dead Flynn ancestors blurred past.

Servants flattened themselves against the walls.

I barely noticed them.

Something was horribly wrong.

I could feel it.

I reached her bedroom door.

It hung halfway open.

The silence inside was unnatural.

My breathing stopped.

“Sarah?”

No answer.

I shoved the door wide open.

The room looked as though a bomb had gone off.

The curtains whipped violently in the wind.

The enormous window overlooking the courtyard had been shattered.

Jagged pieces of glass glittered across the hardwood floor like scattered diamonds.