"Isabella—don't move."
Daniel's voice cut through the darkness, sharp with panic. The generator hummed somewhere far off, struggling, then failing again. The house exhaled into blackness, heavy and absolute.
"I'm not afraid of the dark," I said, though my heart was racing.
"That's not what I meant," he replied. I heard his footsteps, closer now. Too close.
My hand brushed the wall as I took a step back. The air felt different—charged, tight, as if the house itself had turned hostile.
Linia spoke from somewhere behind me. "Stay where you are."
Her voice was calm. Too calm.
"For once," Daniel snapped, "don't listen to her."
I laughed softly. "You're both too late."
The lights flickered once, briefly, casting shadows that stretched and twisted across the walls. In that instant, I saw Daniel reach for me.
And miss.
His fingers brushed the sleeve of my dress—warm, familiar—and then slipped away as the light vanished again.
The missed touch landed harder than any grip could have.
"I was right there," he whispered.
"So was I," I replied. "For years."
Silence swallowed us again.
Somewhere upstairs, a door slammed.
Linia moved quickly. I felt her presence before I saw her, a shift in the air beside me. She didn't touch me either. She stopped short, as if measuring distance was instinct now.
"They cut the power deliberately," she said. "This isn't random."
"I know," I replied. "They warned me."
Daniel's breath hitched. "Warned you about what?"
"About tonight," I said. "About choices."
The emergency lights flickered on at last, bathing the room in dull red. The house looked unfamiliar in the glow—edges sharper, corners more threatening.
Daniel's face was pale. "You should have told me."
"You should have listened," I said.
Linia scanned the room. "We need to leave. Now."
Daniel shook his head. "This is my house."
"Not tonight," she replied. "Tonight it's a trap."
I turned to her sharply. "You knew this could happen."
"Yes," she admitted. "That's why I followed you earlier. That's why I didn't let you stay alone."
"And you still let it happen," I said.
She met my gaze. "Because you needed to see how far they'd go."
A shiver ran through me—not from fear, but from understanding.
Another flicker. The red lights dimmed.
My phone buzzed violently in my hand.
Unknown number.
I answered without thinking.
"You're separated now," the distorted voice said. "Good. Distance makes correction easier."
Daniel lunged toward me. "Who is that?"
I held up a hand to stop him.
"You wanted me gone," I said into the phone. "Congratulations. I'm leaving."
A pause.
"Not alone," the voice replied.
The line went dead.
Linia's eyes darkened. "They're inside the perimeter."
As if summoned, footsteps echoed from the far hallway. Slow. Deliberate. Unfamiliar.
Daniel grabbed my arm. "Stay behind me."
I pulled free. "You don't get to shield me now."
His hand lingered in the air—another missed touch.
The footsteps grew closer.
Linia stepped in front of me instead. "If they take you," she said quietly, "everything you are disappears."
"And if I stay?" I asked.
She didn't answer.
A shadow moved at the edge of the red light.
Daniel whispered my name.
I looked at both of them—at the man who had failed to hold me when it mattered, and the girl who had never touched me at all.
"Open the back exit," I said.
Daniel froze. "Isabella—"
"Now."
He hesitated.
That hesitation decided everything.
Linia grabbed my hand.
The contact was brief—necessary—electric.
Another missed touch echoed behind us as Daniel reached out again.
"Don't go," he said, his voice breaking.
I didn't look back.
The door burst open.
Cold air rushed in.
And as we ran into the night, alarms finally screamed to life behind us, tearing through the silence that had protected lies for far too long.
My phone buzzed one last time as we crossed the gate.
You chose wrong.
I tightened my grip on Linia's hand.
"No," I whispered. "I chose myself."
Behind us, the house stood dark and watching.
Ahead, the road disappeared into uncertainty.
And somewhere between the missed touches and the choices left behind,
I realized—
This escape wasn't an ending.
It was the beginning of the hunt.