“No… you’re lying.”
But her voice lacked conviction.
The man slowly stood, towering over her now. Not threatening—just inescapable.
“I wish I was,” he said.
The clerk finally moved from behind the counter. “Hey—what’s going on here?”
Neither of them answered.
The man’s attention never left the girl.
“She didn’t disappear,” he continued. “She hid you.”
The words hit like a physical blow.
“What?” the girl whispered.
“She knew people would come for you. For both of you.”
The baby let out a soft cry, as if reacting to something unseen.
The girl’s arms tightened protectively.
“Who would come for us?” she demanded.
The man hesitated.
For the first time, uncertainty flickered across his face.
Then—
“They already have.”
The lights above them flickered.
The low hum of the refrigerator cut out.
Silence.
Heavy. Wrong.
The clerk froze. “Did the power just—”
The front door creaked open.
Cold air rushed in.
A shadow stretched across the floor.
The girl turned slowly, her breath catching.
Someone was standing in the doorway.
Watching.
Waiting.
The man’s expression hardened instantly.
“That’s why I had to find you first,” he said under his breath.
The girl’s pulse roared in her ears.
“Who are they?” she whispered.
The man took a small step in front of her—subtle, but protective.
“They’re the reason your mother ran.”
The figure in the doorway took one step forward.
Then another.
And in that moment, the girl realized something terrifying—
This wasn’t a coincidence.
This wasn’t luck.
This was a hunt.
And she—
had just been found.
