More like, She finds you

Surveying the second-story hallway, we stepped cautiously across the polished wood floors, the grain of them glowing warm amber in the morning light. The corridor opened into a wide indoor balcony that overlooked the grand foyer below, where tall windows let in streaks of sunlight just beginning to cut through the cool blue haze of dawn. Curling staircases flanked each end like mirrored vines, curling up to meet us.

The railings were wrought in ornate silver, shaped into crescent moons cradling tiny stars, now glinting faintly in the soft gold of sunrise. Above us, a chandelier of smoky crystal hung still, its arms shaped like phases of the moon, each one now catching just enough light to cast fractured rainbows against the ceiling.

Everything felt still—but not peaceful. Like a house holding its breath.

We moved slowly, boots brushing over Persian rugs woven in faded tones of navy and ivory. Embroidered along the edges were celestial motifs—comets, shooting stars, and strange old sigils that looked almost like clockwork mixed with constellations.

“We’re really doing this, huh?” I muttered, trying to keep my voice low, though the silence of morning made even whispers sound louder than they should.

The first door creaked open softly.

“Looks to be a study?” Trent called out in a quiet voice, leaning into the room. Inside, pale sunlight filtered through tall windows onto a massive oak desk. A globe and some kind of brass armillary sphere caught the light, their surfaces gleaming like artifacts of another time.

“And this is a guest bedroom,” Nadim added from the next room over. The bed was perfectly made, framed by pillars carved with tiny starbursts, and sheer curtains let the morning light pour in like mist.

“I think this is a sun parlor,” Ravi said as he stepped into a room filled with climbing ivy, antique garden furniture, and glass panels tinted soft rose and pale gold. Mosaics of nocturnal animals such as owls, bats and wolves shone back at us. They peeked out from the tiled floor, catching bits of sunshine as it slanted in. The scent of blooming jasmine lingered unnaturally thick in the air.

“Nother bedroom,” Alroy muttered, barely glancing in in another room before swinging the door shut again with a thud.

WHUMP.

The sound echoed unnaturally down the hall.

“Shhh!” I hissed. “We don’t want whoever owns this mansion to fucking hear our snooping.”

But even as I said it, a new sound slipped into the space around us.

It wasn’t the groan of pipes or the creak of old wood. It was something alive.

A laugh—light, airy, and sinfully amused. It carried the soft richness of silk sliding off a shoulder, and the cool warning of someone watching from behind tinted glass. It reminded me of Maleficent type character. Dark, powerful and watching,

And it wasn’t far.

Nadim froze mid-step. Rav’s casual mask slipped. Trent gritted his teeth and squared his shoulders instinctually as if ready to fight. Though his too-tight pink-line shirt comically contrasted his readied stance.

The chandelier above gave us gave a faint tink as a prism shifted. Little flecks of refracted sunlight danced across the walls like moving stars.

And I—well, I swallowed hard.

Because that laugh didn’t sound surprised.

It sounded like it belonged here.

And it knew exactly where we were.