The house was in complete darkness as you crept up the stairs from the basement, the Purgers that had been trying to break into your families' home had cut the power a while ago, plunging the house into an eerie darkness.

The stairs creak - unnecessarily loud in the chilling quiet that had ensued ever since those last few crashes that signalled they had successfully broken in. Your mom had left both you and Charlie in the basement, told not to come out until she came to find you. But it'd been a while and you'd heard nothing.

So naturally, and also stupidly, you'd ventured out into your home to search for her, heart thumping, nerves shot to pieces. And then a cool, smooth hand wraps around your mouth, an arm keeping your own trapped against your waist. "Shh, don't make a sound, little bird."