"WHERE ARE MY DAUGHTERS?!"
Lior flinched when Rico shouted, the sound so loud it felt like it pushed against his chest. It didn't sound like how Rico talked earlier.
It sounded broken, like something inside him had cracked and couldn't be fixed anymore.
Rico's grip loosened.
Lior felt it immediately.
The tight hold on his wrist disappeared, and suddenly, there was nothing there. No hand. No pull.
Nothing was keeping him in place except the fear that rooted him to the ground.
He didn't run.
He wanted to.
His legs felt like they should move, as they should just go anywhere, but when he looked around, there was nowhere to go.
The shadows were everywhere.
They weren't far. They weren't hiding.
They were already there, surrounding them, standing in silence like they had been waiting this whole time.
Lior's breathing grew uneven as he slowly turned his head, trying to find a space, a gap, anything—but there wasn't one.
