Chapter 80
that evening, i tucked the children into their beds, kissing their foreheads and leaving the hallway door cracked just a few inches. the house was completely silent, the kind of heavy, suffocating silence that used to make my skin crawl. i walked down the hallway, my bare feet silent on the hardwood floor. i stopped in front of the blank wall separating the guest room from the bathroom. my heart rate picked up, a phantom instinct kicking in. i reached out, pressing my palm against the cool drywall, listening for the sound of shallow breathing or the scratching of tiny fingernails. there was nothing. just the structural bones of a house that held no secrets. i finally exhaled, turning off the hallway light, and walked back to my room. the monsters were gone.
