1427, Maplewood Drive.
A quiet neighborhood.
A perfect law.
Streets named after trees.
The kind of place where people wave to each other without getting out of their cars.
Claire triggered the alarm.
Nearest patrol.
Unit 24.
Agent Daiel Harris and Agent Maria Lopez confirmed the information within seconds.
—It’s 24 hours further on.
Claire went back to Emily.
—Emily, I’m with you.
—It hurts… it hurts a lot…
Claire tried to remain calm, even within her own body.
—Where is the sake now?
Emily took a moment to reply.
And this pause, this doubt, made him think that this “sake” was more than an animal.
Or that the animal was merely a pretext for something he could not name.
—He is… in his room.
—In your father’s room?
-Yeah.
Claire imagined a large terrarium.
A monster with a strange hobby.
But he also imagined something else.
A monster with a strange hobby: scaring people.
To control.
To teach him obedience.
Emily let out a moan.
—He goes up the stairs…
Claire felt a shiver run down her spine.
—Emily, look at me closely, okay?
It could have been an image of children and a snake.
Emily did not reply.
Claire changed seats.
