Chapter 7 - The Autumn StormAutumn arrived in an explosion of red and gold, accompanied by gale-force winds that shook the neighborhood oaks. One October evening, a sudden storm knocked down local power lines, plunging the house into ink-black darkness.
The sudden roar of wind and the crack of a snapped branch outside shattered the house's quiet. Nora cried out from her bedroom—a sharp, terrified scream that tore through the darkness.
Elena dropped her flashlight, feeling her way along the hallway walls purely by memory. “I’m coming, baby! Mommy’s here!”
When Elena reached the crib, Nora was standing, clinging to the wooden rails, trembling violently. Outside, lightning slashed across the sky, casting grotesque, towering shadows across the bedroom wallpaper.
Elena scooped Nora into her arms, wrapping a heavy wool blanket around both of them. Nora buried her face in Elena’s shoulder, her little hands gripping the fabric of Elena’s sweater so hard her knuckles turned white.
Instead of rushing out, Elena sat down right there on the bedroom floor, just as she had months before in the hallway. She rocked Nora back and forth, humming Julian’s favorite acoustic lullaby into the dark.
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“Listen to the rain, Nora,” Elena murmured gently. “It’s just watering the flowers for spring. It sounds loud, but the roof is holding us safe.”
Gradually, Nora’s rapid breathing slowed. Her grip loosened. Sitting together on the cold floor, bathed in occasional flashes of silver lightning, Elena felt the ghost of Samuel Vance beside them. The storm hadn't stopped, but fear had lost its grip.
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