Chapter 2

“Click.”

The handle turned only halfway before it jammed hard.

My brother froze there and rattled the handle twice more.

“Huh? Why won't it open?”

I lunged and yanked him behind me.

Thank God I'd flipped the deadbolt when I hung up the phone.

A second more and the door would have swung open.

I clamped a hand over his mouth and whispered against his ear,

“Don't make a sound. That's not Dad out there. It's a bad man!”

He flinched hard, then went limp and stopped struggling.

I crouched behind the couch with him, one hand over his mouth, the other feeling for the pepper spray in my pocket.

He was shaking all over, his little fist gripping my shirt, and I didn't dare let go, afraid he'd bolt again.

The danmaku went wild.

【That guy's got his ear against the door! He's listening for movement inside!】

【Don't talk don't talk don't talk!】

【Little brother hold still, whatever you do don't make a sound!】

“Anyone home? There's a leak downstairs. It's maintenance. Open up so we can take a look.”

The voice came through the door, edged with impatience.

I kept my hand over his mouth and didn't dare breathe a word.

It went quiet outside for maybe ten seconds, long enough that I thought he'd left.

I stared at that little ring of light around the peephole, sweat running down my back.

The living room was dark, only the hall's motion light leaking in through the peephole.

Then the next second, that ring of light went black.

He was pressed up against it again!

An eye plugged the peephole, blocking out the hall light completely.

The blood drained out of me like it had been sucked away, even my fingers went cold.

That eye stayed at the peephole a long time, long enough that it seemed to be trying to see into every corner of the apartment.

My brother and I were crouched behind the couch, out of the peephole's reach.

I thought he'd take a couple of looks and go.

But he didn't.

He held that pose, motionless against the peephole, just looking.

One second, two, five, ten.

I could even hear his breathing through the door.

The handle pressed down once and sprang back.

A few more seconds, and the footsteps finally moved toward the stairwell, farther and farther, until I couldn't hear them anymore.

Only then did I dare to gulp for air, the back of my shirt soaked through.

【The scout's gone! But he ran to the fire stairwell to make a call, definitely tipping off his crew!】

【He's reporting numbers! Saying there are only two kids inside, lights off, but somebody's definitely home!】

【Twenty more minutes and all three of them will be here!】

【Where the heck is her dad, I'm dying here!!】

I fished out my phone again, my fingers shaking so bad it took two swipes to unlock the screen.

“Dad, they're hiding in the fire stairwell. Come up the other set of stairs, not the elevator.”

The next twenty minutes dragged like nothing else.

I'd stuffed my brother into the wardrobe to hide, and for now he was quiet, not daring to make a sound.

I turned off the master bedroom light, crouched by the door with my back to the wall, and watched the danmaku keep refreshing.

Every so often a car passed outside, its headlights sweeping the ceiling, and my heart would clench.

【There's movement in the fire stairwell, footsteps!】

【It's not her dad, her dad's not here yet! Another one of the crew just arrived.】

【All three of them met up in the fire stairwell, they're handing out tools!】

【Holy crap one of them's got a screwdriver and a crowbar!】

I couldn't bear to look, but I couldn't stop looking either.

Every glance at the danmaku sent my heart racing.

The hand holding the pepper spray was slick with sweat, so slippery I could barely keep my grip.

Right then, through the master bedroom door, I heard a sound from the living room.

“Click.”

The door had been opened!