Chapter 15 - The Balance Restored
The gray fog outside the windows slowly began to part, revealing the familiar morning light of the suburban street, the tall oak trees, and the blue sky overhead. The nightmare horizon receded, leaving the house standing quietly in the Sunday morning calm, as if nothing had ever happened.
Inside the kitchen, the featureless entity in the navy blue suit had dissolved into a drift of gray dust on the linoleum floor.
Elena sat slumped against the cabinets, staring blankly at her hands, her dark maroon dress stained and ruined. She looked like a woman who had aged twenty years in a single night.
Clara remained kneeling in the upstairs hallway, her light blue dress pressed against the worn wooden floorboards. She reached out and placed a fresh slice of white bread through the slats of the metal floor air vent.
"I'll bring you more tomorrow, Papa," Clara whispered down into the dark crawlspace.
From beneath the floor, a tired, gentle hand reached up, gently touching Clara’s fingertips through the iron grate before pulling back into the warm, quiet shadows.
May you like
Clara stood up slowly, her brown hair falling over her shoulders. She walked to the window, looking out at the children playing on the sunny sidewalk across the street, laughing and riding their bicycles without a care in the world.
The house was quiet now. The secrets were buried where they belonged, locked away beneath the floorboards, waiting for the next generation to feed the dark.
