Gemotions

The key scraped in the lock, a sound that sliced through Elara’s insides. Dust motes danced in the lone ray of sun that pierced the grimy window, illuminating the shadows that clung to the corners of the room. She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. The air itself felt thick, heavy, like a suffocating blanket. “Just… just a house,” she mumbled, her voice barely a whisper, though it echoed unnaturally loud in the silence. Her brother, Leo, just grinned, oblivious, already wandering into the kitchen.

Every creak of the floorboards sent a jolt of alarm through her. It was the silence, really, that was the worst. The absolute stillness broken only by the frantic hammering of her own heart. She jumped at a sudden rustle in the attic, a scurrying noise that made her grip the doorknob so tightly her knuckles whitened.

“Elara? You coming?” Leo’s voice, a casual call from downstairs, was like a lifeline. She took a shuddering breath, forcing herself to move, to follow him, to escape the suffocating presence of the empty house.