Chapter 55

Chapter 55
I took a shaky breath and looked around.
Everything looked normal again. Too normal.

Then Kael came back first, his shirt a little torn, his face tense.
“It’s fine,” he said quickly, before I could ask. “False alarm.”
Leighton and Ashton followed behind him, both quiet.

Peighton didn’t move for a moment. He just stared at Kael. “False alarm?”
Kael nodded. “For now.”
Peighton muttered something under his breath and walked off a few steps, raking a hand through his hair.
I watched him go. My chest ached a little, though I didn’t know why.

When we finally went home, the air felt heavy again.
Mom wasn’t there,  just the guards outside and the smell of dinner she’d left warming on the stove.

Kael stayed behind near the porch, talking to someone on the phone. Ashton and Leighton went upstairs.
I lingered by the roses.

The petals were still wet from the morning dew. The faint red glow from the night before wasn’t there anymore.
But I could feel something, the quiet, the tension in the air.

I turned when I heard footsteps.
Peighton stood there again, hands still in his pockets, eyes on me.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he said.
“I’m not alone,” I said softly.
He looked at me for a long second, then shook his head. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?”
“Those things follow you. Things you can’t see.”
“Maybe they follow you too,” I said.

He stepped closer, close enough that I could feel the heat of his breath when he spoke.
“Maybe they do,” he said. “But I can handle it.”

Something in his voice made me shiver. Not from fear,  from something else.
He leaned in just slightly. “You need to be careful, Omari.”

I swallowed. “And if I’m not?”
He smiled faintly, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Then I’ll have to be careful for you.”

Before I could answer, Kael’s voice called from the porch. “Peighton.”
He didn’t move for a second. His eyes lingered on mine, searching, holding. Then he turned and walked away.

I stood there, staring at the roses, my heart beating too fast.

And that was when I saw it again.
Not in the woods. Not far away.
Right at the edge of the garden.
A red flicker.
Closer this time.
Brighter.
Moving.
The red light moved again.

I froze, my breath catching in my throat. It wasn’t just flickering now—it was gliding, slow and steady, like it knew I was watching. My hands went cold, and I took a small step back.
“Peighton,” I whispered.

He turned at once, his eyes narrowing. “What is it?”
I didn’t have to point. He saw it too. The glow touched his face for a brief second before it disappeared behind the trees.

His expression changed, calm, sharp, like he’d seen this before. “Go inside.”

“What was that?” I asked, but my voice came out too small.
“Inside, Omari,” he said again, firmer this time.

I hesitated. I didn’t want to be alone. He must’ve seen that because he let out a quiet sigh and grabbed my hand. His fingers were warm, steady, and I didn’t even try to pull away.
“Fine,” he muttered. “Come on.”

We walked fast toward the porch. Kael was already waiting there, phone still in his hand, his eyes on the same spot where the light had been.
“What did you see?” Kael asked.

“Something,” Peighton said. “Too close to the fence.”
Kael’s jaw tightened. “I’ll check it out.”

“No,” Peighton snapped. “You’ll alert the guards first.”
Kael gave him a long look, then nodded and turned away, speaking quickly into his phone.

I stood still, trying to calm my breathing. The air smelled like roses and rain, but underneath it was something else, something faint and wild.

Peighton hadn’t let go of my hand yet. When I looked up, his eyes met mine. “You keep finding trouble,” he said quietly.
“I didn’t do anything,” I whispered.

He didn’t answer. His gaze dropped to where our hands were still joined. Slowly, he let go. My skin felt colder right away.
“Go inside,” he said again, softer this time.

I nodded and turned, stepping into the house. The door closed behind me with a quiet click.

Through the window, I could see Kael walking toward the edge of the garden, two guards following close behind. The light was gone now, but he still moved like he could sense it.

Leighton came down the stairs, his hair messy, his phone in his hand. “What’s going on?”
I swallowed. “There was something. Near the garden.”

Ashton appeared a second later, pulling on his jacket. “Again?”
“Kael’s checking,” I said.
Leighton’s eyes flicked to the window, then to me. “You okay?”
I nodded even though I wasn’t sure. “Yeah.”

Ashton stepped closer. His hand brushed my arm gently. “You shouldn’t be out there alone.”
“I wasn’t,” I said. “Peighton was with me.”

That made him pause. His jaw tensed, but he didn’t say anything. Leighton glanced at him, like he was waiting for a reaction that never came.
The silence stretched. The only sound was the soft ticking of the clock on the wall.

Then Kael came back inside. “Nothing,” he said shortly. “No tracks, no scent. But something was there.”
I looked at him. “You’re sure?”
He met my eyes. “Yes.”

Peighton walked in after him, shoulders tight, eyes still on me. “It’s getting bolder.”
Leighton frowned. “Or closer.”

Kael set his phone on the counter. “Either way, we need to tighten security.”
The room felt smaller suddenly, the air heavier. I looked at the three of them, Ashton pacing, Leighton thinking, Kael calm but ready, and Peighton standing a little apart from the rest, his eyes steady and unreadable.

I didn’t know what scared me more—the thing outside, or how they all looked like they’d seen this before.

Mom’s voice broke the tension from upstairs. “Everything okay?”
I forced a smile. “Yeah! Just the guards doing their rounds!”

The boys didn’t correct me.
When she went quiet again, I looked at Peighton. “Do you think it’ll come back?”

He didn’t blink. “It already has.”
A chill ran through me. “What does that mean?”
Kael’s voice was low. “It means this isn’t over.”

No one said anything after that. The silence felt thick, full of things they wouldn’t tell me.

I wanted to ask, but I didn’t. I just nodded and went upstairs. My room felt too quiet, too big. I sat on the edge of the bed, looking out the window again. The roses swayed in the wind, soft and innocent.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something or someone was watching.