Chapter 13 - Shadows in the ParkTwo weeks passed in relative peace. The kids were thriving in their new school, adjusting to our secure, independent life with bright smiles and restored confidence. The memory of the October dinner party was slowly fading into a distant, unpleasant chapter of our past.
Then came Thursday evening.
The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting long, eerie shadows across the park behind our newly restored estate. I was in the kitchen prepping dinner while Lily and Noah played Monopoly on the living room rug, their giggles filling the open-plan room.
Suddenly, Noah stopped rolling the dice. "Mommy? Someone is standing outside the glass door."
My heart hammered against my ribs. I froze, knife in hand, and slowly turned my head toward the floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors that led out to the back patio.
Standing just beyond the illuminated patio lights, shivering in a cheap, oversized trench coat with her hair matted and unwashed, was Vivian.
She wasn't wearing her designer sunglasses. Her face was pale, gaunt, and twisted into an expression of feral desperation. Her eyes stared straight at me through the glass, wide, bloodshot, and burning with psychotic hatred.
Before I could reach for my phone to call security, Vivian raised her hand and slammed a heavy, solid object—a jagged piece of landscaping stone—directly against the reinforced glass pane.
Crack!
A spiderweb of fractures instantly splintered across the sliding door, terrifying the kids into ear-piercing screams.
"Mommy! What's happening?!" Lily cried out, scooping Noah into her arms as they scrambled backward against the couch.
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Adrenaline surged through my veins, replacing fear with pure, cold fury. I didn't run. I walked straight to the hallway closet, pulled out a heavy aluminum baseball bat I kept near the emergency supplies, and strode back toward the shattered patio door.
Vivian crosses the ultimate line. How does Claire handle the home invader in Chapter 14?
