Chapter 48 The Crack in the Glass(18+)

The house loomed ahead, a dark monolith against the bruised purple sky, its windows glowing with a warm, predatory light. It was no longer a sanctuary, not even a cage. It was the belly of the beast, and I was walking back into it with a secret that could tear it apart from the inside.

I let myself in through the side door, my movements silent, practiced. The house was asleep, shrouded in a hush that felt more watchful than peaceful. I avoided the main halls, slipping through the service corridors and back stairways.

My plan was to get to my room, to lock the door, to examine the tablet, to lose myself in the cold, clean logic of Elara’s diagrams and forget the raw, messy reality of the world I inhabited.

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