Chapter 11 - The Arrival
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Brandon recovered his false bravado quickly. He reached down in the dark, grabbed me violently by my butchered hair, and hauled my torso upright despite the agonizing screams tearing from my throat as my ruined knees dragged against the floor.
"Everybody calm down!" Brandon shouted over the rising panic of his guests. "It’s probably the neighborhood watch or private security! Nobody move!"
The guests were frozen, trapped in the crossbeams of the headlights shining through the glass. No one dared to run. The silence outside was heavier and more intimidating than a swat team's sirens.
Then came the sound that stopped my husband’s heart.
Three slow, heavy knocks at the solid oak front door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Nobody breathed. The air in the room grew instantly freezing.
Three more knocks, identical in pacing.
Brandon gritted his teeth, his grip tightening on the hammer. He let go of my hair, letting me slump back to the floor. "Stay here," he ordered Melissa. "I’ll handle this. Whoever it is, I'll pay them off."
He began marching toward the foyer, his posture rigid with the desperate need to maintain control in front of his wealthy peers.
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But the door opened before he even reached the entryway.
The heavy wood swung inward with a slow, agonizing creak. The headlights from outside cast a towering, elongated shadow down the hallway, stretching across the polished floors until it reached my bleeding legs. A figure stood perfectly still in the doorframe, blocking the exit. The air pressure in the house seemed to drop instantly. The monster had arrived.
