The sound outside my apartment came again and every muscle in my body locked instantly while adrenaline surged hard enough to sharpen my breathing.
I reached for the knife beside the counter without hesitation while my eyes stayed fixed on the dark window across the room. The metal felt cold against my palm while silence settled heavily through the apartment again.
There were no footsteps, no voices. Nothing.
That somehow felt worse.
I moved slowly toward the window while keeping my breathing controlled and moonlight spilled across the floorboards in pale streaks while the property outside stayed mostly quiet beneath the night sky.
Nobody stood outside and there were no movement crossed the yard.
The guards near the front gate still walked their routes and distant voices drifte
