A Light in the Dark

Chapter 60

Trigger warning for violence

════════════

"Sofi," Camila whispered and blinked rapidly. No, they wouldn't go after a child... right? They wouldn't... not a little girl...

With shaking knees, she slowly approached the door. Maybe her mother had taken the key with her. Maybe she had put it elsewhere. Just like she had changed the code for the alarm system. Yes, that sounded plausible...

She took a deep breath and walked into the house. From the looks of it, nothing was amiss. What if they were still in the house? What if they had taken Sofi? What if –

Camila listened closely and could hear the faint noises of the TV. Sofi was probably watching some morning cartoons. They always used to do it on the weekend when their parents weren't there. Everything was fine. It was fine, right?

Had the TV been on when Lauren and her went downstairs? Wouldn't have Sofi come to her to see what was going on when she had laughed so loudly? But if she had watched TV... if her favorite show had been on...

She swallowed dryly and closed the door behind her. Although it didn't gave her the feeling of safety she had hoped for. No, it was as if she had just closed her only escape. Shaking it off, Camila held her breath and tiptoed to the living room.

The door was ajar and, with a little push, it opened fully. She anxiously bit her lip and slowly stepped into the room. No one was there. A cartoon was playing on the television, but Sofi wasn't here.

Her heartbeat picked up again as panic spread through her body. Where was she? Had Gabriel been in their home? Had he taken Sofi while she and Lauren were asleep, unaware that that psychopath had broken into the house? With trembling hands, she took the remote and shut it off. She would never forgive herself, if something happened to Sofi. Never. Not if she could save her somehow...

"Why did you turn it off? I was watching that!"

Camila swang around and stared in shock at her little sister who was now pouting at the black screen.

"Oh my God," she muttered and after a few quick steps to close their small distance, Camila embraced her tightly. "You're alright. Oh my God, you're okay, you're safe!"

Sofi hesitantly put her arms around her and patted her back. "Of course I am, Kaki... are you feeling okay?"

A few tears escaped her eyes and Camila sniffed. Her sister was okay. Everything was fine. No one had harmed her. And no one was going to as long as she was there to protect her.

She wiped her cheeks before pulling away and looking into Sofi's eyes. "You, uh... did you unlock the door this morning?"

Sofi frowned and shook her head. "No, why should I?"

Camila closed her eyes for a moment, counting to ten. This was not good. There had been no key in the lock, so Lauren couldn't have done it either... and the spare key was still missing. "Do you know if Mamá took the spare key from under the flowerpot? Did she put it somewhere else?"

"No," Sofi drawled. "Why are you asking me these weird questions?"

She bit her lip and looked around. Why was the door unlocked? Was Gabriel already in the house? Was he listening to their conversation? Was he waiting for something? Or did he only want to scare her? She knew that he loved to intimidate people...

"Sof, I want you to pack some clothes, we're going to spend the night at Lauren's," Camila finally decided.

"Cool," Sofi exclaimed and a big smile appeared on her face. "I can't wait!"