Chapter 15 - The Knock on the Door
Mark froze, his eyes fixed on the peeling paint of the studio apartment door. The rain pathed softly against the glass of the window, but inside the room, the silence was absolute and suffocating.
Three more soft knocks echoed through the hallway—deliberate, measured, and entirely too small to belong to an adult.
Mark’s heart hammered against his ribs like a caged animal. He crossed the small room in three long strides, his fingers trembling as he reached out and grabbed the brass door handle. He pulled the door open sharply, expecting to see a landlord, a process server, or a ghost from his past.
Standing in the dim, flickering hallway light was Lily.
She was wearing her pink shirt and denim overalls, though her clothes were soaked through with heavy rain. Her long light brown hair clung damply to her cheeks, and her small hands were stained with fresh, dark earth. She wasn't crying. She looked up at Mark with the exact same calm, terrifyingly composed stare that Elena always wore.
"You forgot to finish the kitchen, Daddy," Lily whispered softly, her voice carrying an eerie, unnatural resonance that made Mark’s blood run cold.
Behind her in the hallway, stepping out from the shadows near the stairwell, was Elena, wearing her cream sweater and soft slippers, holding a small, silver key in her palm.
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"The boundary is broken, Mark," Elena said quietly, stepping across the threshold
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