Leif arrived home at the end of the school day. He threw his backpack by the door and went immediately to the kitchen, where his mother was finishing preparing dinner.
The urgency about Carrie's situation was consuming him.
"Mom, any news? What happened with Margaret?" he asked without preamble, leaning against the door frame.
Sarah turned around, her face relaxed and a satisfied smile on her face.
"Everything is resolved, honey. Carrie's mother has a history of severe mental instability. The police and social services intervened; Margaret has been institutionalized for psychiatric evaluation."
"And Carrie, for now... is staying with us. The paperwork is in process."
Leif nodded, feeling the tension accumulated since the morning on the bus finally dissipating.
"Good. Thank you, Mom."
Just then, his father's deep voice resonated from the dining room.
"Dinner, everyone!"
The family gathered around the table. The air filled with the comforting aroma of food, but that cozy atmosphere didn't manage to dispel the tense mood.
John, a man of few words, tried to lighten the mood.
"Carrie, I hope you like the casserole. It's your aunt's specialty."
Carrie barely lifted her gaze. She was naturally still visibly traumatized, still bearing the weight of the previous days.
She merely picked at her food with her head down, taking small, courteous bites.
After dinner, John stood up and offered his hand to Sarah with a knowing look.
"Well, dear," he said, smiling, "We'll let the kids take care of the dishes today. You and I have an adults-only night."
Sarah laughed, affectionately took his arm, and winked at Leif.
The two left, leaving the three of them alone.
Leif watched Carrie for a moment, his eyes full of encouragement, and then turned to his "sister."
"Lillith, you're in charge. It's time to teach Carrie how to handle this."
Carrie gasped. Her pale face showed a mixture of insecurity and a spark of hope.
"Me... Can I really?" she murmured, uneasiness and suspicion momentarily flickering in her eyes.
Leif looked directly at her.
"Listen to me, Carrie. Yesterday, when the light exploded, that was you. Your fear did it. Now, we're going to transform that fear into something you can control. I trust you. You are stronger than you think."
Carrie bit her lip.
"..."
She hesitated for only an instant, processing the firmness in Leif's voice, before nodding with a faint, "Yes."
Lillith, who had been waiting patiently, displayed a confident smile.
"Alright, Carrie. This will be a piece of cake," Lillith stated, "Let's go to the backyard. We'll start with the basics."
She walked toward the back door, with Carrie following her with tentative steps. Lillith began to explain patiently, pointing out how to channel her mind.
The backyard had become a laboratory. They had been practicing for almost an hour when, suddenly, a breakthrough occurred.
It was subtle, but undeniable: a miracle.
A small ceramic cup, placed on the patio table, slid by itself. It didn't fall, it didn't vibrate, it simply moved slowly, obeying Carrie's concentration.
"You got it, Carrie! You're amazing!" Leif exclaimed from his spot, unable to contain his excitement.
Hearing the praise, Carrie's cheeks flushed a vivid scarlet.
She raised her head, and her eyes, previously clouded by fear, now sparkled with an electrifying mix of awe and triumph. It was the first time in her life she felt pride in something that came from within her, a new promise of control.
But just as Lillith was about to indicate the next exercise, the sound of the house phone burst into the silence of the night.
Leif frowned at the interruption. He stood up with a quick movement and walked rapidly toward the landline phone.
"Hello, Conner residence."
"Hehehe... Leif Conner," a voice on the other end replied. The modulation was a deep echo, clearly manipulated by software. "Your parents are gone, aren't they?"
Leif instantly recognized the trick and knew it wasn't an innocent call.
"Who the hell are you?" he snapped, "Stop wasting my time."
"Oh... why don't you play a little game? Try to guess," the filtered voice was irritating.
Leif snorted, "I don't have time for stupid games." He immediately hung up the phone.
Carrie looked at him with wide eyes, her newfound confidence fading into unease.
"Who was that?" she asked in a whisper.
"Just some idiot looking to cause trouble, Carrie. It's done," Leif comforted her, turning around to return to the sofa.
But before he could sit down, the phone, relentless, shrilled again.
"..."
Leif exhaled in exasperation. He picked it up again, his patience exhausted.
"You hung up on me. How rude," the same distorted voice said.
"Who are you?" Leif's tone became low and dangerous, "Even jokes have a limit!"
"Come on... amuse me a little. Why don't you try harder and guess?" The unknown caller, gloating in mockery, seemed to be enjoying deliberately challenging Leif's fury.
"Guess... Yeah, yeah, I'm guessing," Leif hung up the phone again.
But the device, like a macabre toy, immediately rang.
This time, Leif simply pressed the answering machine button, "This is the Conner residence. Please leave your message after the tone."
"Leif, do you really think hiding behind a recorder is going to save you?" The manipulated voice replied before the beep sounded.
Leif's heart skipped a beat, 'How the hell...?' That question was impossible. He hadn't said he was going to use the answering machine.
A chill of déjà vu ran through him, the icy familiarity of having lived this on a screen, but he didn't know where.
Was he watching him? From where? Paranoia soared.
"Look, asshole. This joke is over. You better hope I don't find you," Leif raised the phone to issue the warning as he walked quickly toward the living room window.
He pulled the curtain with a sharp gesture, concealing everything. Then he turned his head and gave a quick, subtle gesture to Lillith to take Carrie away, instructing them to hide.
Immediately after, his mind focused and materialized Ebony in his hand.
"Do you think that by closing the curtain, I'm already blind? What are you planning to do with that gun, Leif?" The voice filtered from the earpiece again, as if the guy were narrating his every move.
'He's seeing me. He has to be in the house,' Leif thought, discarding the idea of an external observer. If he saw the weapon, he had to be inside.
His gaze sharpened. He meticulously scanned the room.
Under the sofa? In the hollow of a cabinet? Or maybe he had slipped in and was hiding upstairs?
But if the guy was inside, shouldn't he be able to hear his own voice echoing in the silence?
He concentrated, fell silent, sharpening his hearing. He tried to capture the slightest resonance, a clue that would betray the physical origin of the mysterious voice.
However, aside from the constant buzzing of the voice coming from the earpiece, everything around was a sepulchral silence, a void.
"Leif, do you want to play hide-and-seek with me?" the voice said, whispering with a chilling familiarity, "If you find me... I'll leave you alone."
________
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