By the following Tuesday, Kayla had begun avoiding unnecessary trips upstairs. She still went when she needed to—Tommy’s favorite blanket was kept in his room, the pantry snacks were stored in the hall cupboard—but she never lingered. The quiet upstairs felt different now, charged and watchful, like the air itself was heavier somehow, waiting to be disturbed.
That afternoon, while Tommy napped soundly on the living room couch, Kayla finally worked up the courage to mention one of the smaller strange moments. Not the odd noises, not Tommy’s unsettling statement; she didn’t want to sound dramatic. Just something simple. Something safe.
She waited until Sabrina came home from work, heels clicking a precise, familiar rhythm against the hardwood floor as she stepped inside. Sabrina set her leather purse down on the entryway table and asked, without looking up as she sorted through the day’s mail, “How was he today?”
“Good,” Kayla said, folding a clean towel she’d brought in from the laundry room. “Really good. No fuss at all.” Then, trying to keep her voice casual and even, she added, “I did notice something small, though. One of the upstairs pantry boxes was moved. The ce
The real box was in front of the crackers. I wasn’t sure if you reorganized it this morning.” It was a gentle question. A normal, household question. Kayla fully expected Sabrina to laugh it off or explain with a sigh that she’d been rushed and just grabbed something in a hurry.
Instead, Sabrina paused in her mail-sorting for half a second, a hesitation so brief it was barely there, and then smiled a tight, polite smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Oh, the pantry?” she said lightly, her tone a little too airy. “I probably grabbed something and forgot to put it back properly. You know how I am—always in a rush in the mornings.” She waved a hand vaguely toward the staircase. “Don’t worry about it.” The answer was logical. It should have made perfect sense.
But something about the way she said it felt off. It was too quick, too easy, without a trace of genuine reflection. It felt rehearsed, as if she was expecting the question and had the answer ready on her tongue. Kayla nodded, forcing a small, understanding smile of her own. “Okay. Just wanted to check.” Sabrina didn’t look concerned or curious. She didn’t ask what exactly had moved or when Kayla had noticed it. She didn’t even glance toward the stairs. She just slipped off her heels and padded in her stockings into the kitchen, humming a soft, tuneless melody as if nothing unusual had been mentioned at all.