Chapter 4 - The Predator in the House
Panic, sharp and blinding, spiked in Eleanor’s chest. She sprinted out of the study, her heels clicking frantically against the marble floor. She reached the east wing just as Arthur was taking off his tailored suit jacket in the foyer.
“Arthur,” Eleanor gasped, forcing her face into a mask of calm, though her heart was hammering against her ribs. “You’re early.”
Arthur Vance was a man who commanded the room simply by standing in it. Tall, impeccably groomed, with eyes like chips of flint. He smiled, but it never quite reached those eyes. “A merger fell through. Decided to come home to my beautiful wife. Where’s Julian?”
Inside the guest suite, Julian and Leo froze. They had heard the heavy front door close, followed by the deep baritone of Arthur’s voice.
Leo’s eyes widened in sheer terror. He backed away from the bedroom door, bumping into the wall. “That voice,” Leo whispered, his breathing turning ragged.
“It’s just my dad,” Julian said, reaching out. “Well, your dad too, I guess.”
“No,” Leo said, his hands gripping his hair, a full-blown panic attack setting in. “No, no, no. I know that voice. The man who came to the orphanage when I was seven. The man in the black car. He gave the director an envelope of cash and told him to make sure I never got adopted. He told him to make my life hell so I’d run away.”
Julian felt the blood drain from his face. “Are you sure?”
“I never forget a monster,” Leo hissed.
Outside the door, heavy footsteps approached.
“Julian?” Arthur called out, turning the doorknob.
“Hide!” Julian shoved Leo toward the massive walk-in closet. Leo slipped inside, pulling the heavy wooden doors shut just a fraction of a second before Arthur walked into the room.
Julian was standing awkwardly in the middle of the carpet, holding a basketball. “Hey, Dad.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed. He was a predator, constantly scanning for weaknesses. He looked at Julian, then around the perfectly pristine room. His gaze stopped on the floor.
A single, dirty, bloody footprint stained the edge of the white Persian rug.
Arthur slowly walked over to the footprint. He crouched down, touching the edge of it with his index finger. He stood back up, his eyes locking onto Julian with terrifying intensity.
“Julian. Who is in this house?” Arthur’s voice was dangerously quiet.
“No one, Dad. I just… I stepped in mud in the park.”
“You’re wearing clean sneakers, son,” Arthur said. He turned his head slowly toward the walk-in closet. The silence in the room stretched out, thick and lethal.
Arthur took a step toward the closet.
Suddenly, Eleanor burst into the room. “Arthur! There you are. I… I dropped my diamond earring down the sink in the master bath. I need your help, the plumber can’t come until tomorrow.”
Arthur stopped. He looked at his wife, then back at the closet. The predatory gleam in his eye didn’t fade. “An earring. Right. I’ll be there in a moment, darling.”
As Eleanor desperately grabbed his arm to pull him away, Arthur looked back at Julian. “We aren’t done here.”
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Once the door clicked shut, Leo stumbled out of the closet, gasping for air.
Julian looked at his twin, his jaw set with a sudden, fierce determination. He had been a sheltered rich kid his whole life. But this was his blood. “We need to get out of here. And we need proof of what he did.”
