Chapter 6 - The House at the End of the StreetClara turned onto Elm Street.
The sight of the old house hit her harder than she expected.
For a moment, she was twelve years old again.
Running barefoot through the grass.
Hearing her mother's voice from the kitchen.
Smelling fresh bread.
Hearing her father laugh from the porch.
Then she saw the cage.
Everything inside her went silent.
The neighborhood disappeared.
The houses disappeared.
The summer sky disappeared.
There was only Eleanor.
Her mother.
Behind bars.
Clara stopped walking.
Her fingers tightened around the strap of the duffel bag.
Her breathing slowed.
She could hear her own heartbeat.
One.
Two.
Three.
Across the lawn, Ryan kicked dirt toward the cage.
Chloe laughed.
Eleanor lowered her head.
Something inside Clara broke.
But she did not scream.
She did not run.
She simply watched.
And memorized.
The cage.
The lock.
The house.
The people.
The vehicles.
The exits.
Every detail.
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Because Clara had not come home to start a fight.
She had come home to end one.
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