Kiera forgot to breathe. He was listening for the rumble of the car straining through the rain, for it to just go by without a glance in the direction of the house. But something was wrong. He felt a presence, something cold that ran down his spine, the presence of something that should not be near. The car’s engine cut off, and he gasped in a breath. A slam, then a call. A woman’s voice. It sounded so familiar, but he shook that notion from his head. Leaning his back against the door, he knew only the worst was about to happen, and he could do nothing to stop it. Just like before, he could do nothing. Unlocking the door, he peered into the hallway. It was silent, save for the thunder and rain falling. Dmitri was nowhere to be seen, possibly still in the basement. He spent most of his time down there, when not terrorizing Kiera.

Stepping into the hall, he closed the door and wished he could lock it from the outside. Down the hall and the nearer set of stairs, he could see the time before that night. A beautiful morning, sunlight shining through the windows, the door open to let in the sweet scent of the garden’s flowers and the songs of so many birds in the trees outside. The yellowish-gold glow of the sunlight spilling into the entrance hall made even the deepest gloominess fade away. A carriage was outside, ready to carry the older children to school. They would be there for a month, leaving only Kiera, his parents, his grandparents, and his two aunts and three uncles. He would not go with his six siblings; his mother said he could not. He was weak, and if he were to leave the house, he would get hurt very easily, or sick.

Going down the stairs, the windows black and streaked with rain, the smell of water and saturated earth in the air, Kiera had to wonder why she would lie to him. He was perfectly healthy, in his opinion. Strong, certainly, or he would have been killed long ago by Dmitri. Clumping down the last several stairs in his large but tightly-tied shoes, Kiera ran to the window, shuddering the candles in their sconces on the way. He could see, past the old, dead rose bushes, the ivy creeping its way up the gate, a lump on the road. Someone was moving outside it, approaching the gate. He had no idea what to do, how to scare the woman away. He feared for her, but could not move.