Kaelen's POV
Sleep refused to come. I lay there studying the ceiling, every imperfection etched into my memory. The jagged line near the corner. The water stain that resembled a twisted face. Hours had passed since I'd first noticed them, and still they stared back at me in the pale moonlight filtering through the window.
My phone remained untouched on the bedside table. Black screen reflecting nothing back at me. No missed calls. No text messages. Just empty silence where hope should have been.
The old house whispered around me. Wood expanding and contracting in the night air. Each sound felt like an accusation. A reminder of the desperate voicemail I'd left for Percival. The bridges I'd burned. The help I'd rejected when pride mattered more than my mother's life.
A noise shattered the quiet. Sharp footfalls echoing from somewhere in the distance. Running. Fast and urgent.
I bolted upright. My pulse hammered against my throat.
