Fear

"Where are we going?" I asked quietly.

"A safe place," she replied. "Somewhere to rest before we leave."

I frowned. "We just rested."

She shook her head. "Not properly. That room was temporary. We need somewhere more secure, at least for tonight."

I wanted to argue, but I knew she was right. The place we had rented before was cheap and barely maintained.

The lock on the door could've been picked by a child. If someone had wanted to kill us in our sleep, they wouldn't have even struggled.

As we walked deeper into the city, the streets narrowed even more, buildings pressed together in ways that felt suffocating.

The lamps overhead flickered, their artificial glow weak against the dark night.

Then, finally, Sylvie stopped in front of a small, ordinary building wedged between two larger ones.

"This is it," she said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Looks abandoned."

"That's the point."