The moment I stepped out of the cab, my heart clenched with a sharp pang of fear.
I'd expected a lively street, bustling with people—proof that I wasn't walking straight into danger. But I'd been careless. I hadn't bothered to check the address properly.
Before me stretched a place that felt abandoned by life itself. Fewer houses than I imagined. Shadows swallowing up cracked pavements. The silence gnawed at me.
"Maybe I should've told Anthony," I muttered, clutching my bag so tightly my knuckles turned white.
If only I'd shown him both pictures. But no—his uncle had warned me. Don't tell him, he'd said. And I listened.
Inhale. Exhale. You can do this, Alicia.
I forced myself forward, one step at a time. My breath felt loud in my ears. The soft scrape of my shoes against the ground reminded me I was still moving, even if fear tried to root me in place.
