I could only squeeze my eyes shut.

The blackness was rushing back, faster this time, pulling me down into a deep, heavy sleep.

“Landon!” Arthur yelled, his voice rising in anger.

He pounded on the wooden door with his fist.

The vibrations traveled through the floorboards, shaking my shoulder.

I heard his boots clattering down the wooden porch steps.

He ran off the porch and onto the grass beneath the living room window.

He pressed his face against the glass, shielding his eyes with both hands.

Through my fading vision, I saw his eyes widen.

He saw me lying on the carpet.

He saw Rowan.

He tapped hard on the glass with his knuckles.

“Marissa! Can you hear me?” he shouted.

I gave a tiny nod, but I couldn’t keep my head up.

My forehead rested on the carpet.

Arthur looked around the side of our house, toward the narrow alleyway between our properties.

He knew the layout of these old Charlotte bungalows.

He knew the basement window was low to the ground and hidden behind the boxwood shrubs.