Chapter 184: Sleep now, my baby Kat

Then Viktor kissed her slowly at first, and then deeper, more urgent, his hands sliding into her hair as though he were trying to memorize the feel of her, trying to hold onto this one steady, certain thing in a world that had become anything but. He kissed her like a man afraid that this, right here, might be the last time he ever got to hold her like this again.

Viktor and Marcus left, and the house grew quiet in a way that felt heavier than silence should.

Sienna locked the door behind them. She stood there for a moment. Her hand remained on the doorknob, her fingers resting against the cool metal as she listened.

Nothing, no footsteps outside. No voices. Only the faint hum of the house settling around her. She finally let go. Slowly, she walked toward the bed and sat down on the edge.

The mattress dipped beneath her weight. For a few seconds, she simply stared at the floor. Then she reached for her laptop. Work. She needed to work.

That was what she always did when her mind became too loud. She buried herself in numbers, emails, reports, anything that required her full attention. It was easier when there was something in front of her that could be solved.

She opened the laptop. The screen lit up the room. Sienna stared at it. A document was already open. She read the first line. Then read it again. Nothing stayed in her mind.

Her eyes moved across the words, but she wasn’t actually seeing them anymore. Viktor. Her fingers stopped above the keyboard. She leaned back slowly. He was out there. Somewhere. She didn’t know where.

She didn’t know what he was walking into. And that was the part that frightened her most. She had watched him leave. She had seen the look on his face. He hadn’t said much. He never did when something serious was happening.

But she knew Viktor well enough now to recognize that silence. Something was wrong. Something was waiting for him out there in the dark. Sienna closed the laptop. The soft click sounded strangely loud in the room.

She picked up her phone. Checked the screen. Nothing. She put it down. A few seconds passed. She picked it up again. Still nothing.

She stood. Slowly, she began walking across the room. One step. Then another. Her bare feet made almost no sound against the floor. She stopped near the window and looked outside. The night was quiet.

Too quiet. Streetlights cast pale pools of light onto the road below. Everything looked normal. Peaceful, even. That should have made her feel better.

It didn’t. Sienna wrapped one arm around herself. Her chest felt tight. She took a deep breath. Held it. Then slowly let it out. Again. Still, her heartbeat refused to settle.

She looked down at her phone. Aria. Maybe she should call her. Maybe hearing her voice would help. She needed someone.

Just someone who could talk to her about anything. Something ordinary. Something meaningless. Anything that could pull her thoughts away from Viktor.

She pressed Aria’s name. The phone began to ring. Sienna waited. One ring. Two. Three. She shifted her weight. Four. Five. She brought the phone closer to her ear.

Six. Still nothing. Her eyebrows drew together. "Come on, Aria." The ringing continued. Then stopped. No answer. Sienna lowered the phone. For a moment, she simply stared at the screen.

Maybe she was sleeping. Maybe her phone was somewhere across the room. Maybe she was busy. There were plenty of reasons. She knew that. Still, something about the unanswered call settled heavily inside her.

She tried calling again. This time, she stopped before it could ring for long. "No." She whispered the word to herself. She wasn’t going to start imagining things. Not tonight.

She placed the phone on the bedside table. Then she sat down again. The room seemed larger now. Quieter. She pulled her legs onto the bed and slowly curled herself into a small ball.

Her arms wrapped around her middle. She closed her eyes. Viktor’s face appeared immediately. She opened them again. "Stop." Her voice was barely audible. She looked toward the ceiling.

"You are okay." The words sounded strange in the empty room. She swallowed. "You are okay." She said it again. This time, softer.

Her hand moved slowly over her chest as if she could somehow calm the frantic rhythm underneath her palm. "You are okay, Sienna." A pause.

"You are okay." The words became a whisper. She wasn’t sure anymore whether she was trying to convince herself or him. Outside, the wind moved gently through the trees. A branch brushed against the window. Sienna’s eyes flickered toward it.

Nothing. She looked away. Her breathing gradually slowed. She began humming. Quietly. There was no song. No real melody. Just a low, wandering sound that came and went with her breathing. It filled the room. A little.

Just enough. Her eyelids became heavier. The phone remained untouched on the table beside her. The laptop stayed closed. The house remained silent. And somewhere beyond those walls, Viktor was walking deeper into a night Sienna knew nothing about.

She didn’t know that the quiet surrounding her was only temporary. She didn’t know that the danger she feared was already moving closer. For now, she only knew that she was tired. So tired.

Her humming grew softer. Slower. Then stopped altogether. Sienna’s breathing evened out. Her fingers loosened against the blanket. Her eyes finally closed. And, little by little, sleep pulled her under.

She dreamed. A woman stood over her. Sienna could not see her clearly at first. Only the shape of her.

The soft outline of a figure leaning over the bed. The faint movement of blonde hair. A warmth she could feel even though she could not remember where she was.

Then the woman smiled. Sienna’s breath caught. She was young. Beautiful in a way that felt almost unreal.

Her long blonde curls fell loosely around her shoulders, some of them brushing against her arms as she leaned closer. Her eyes were soft green, warm and gentle as they looked down at Sienna.

There was something about those eyes. Something familiar. Something that made Sienna’s chest ache. The woman began to hum. The same tune Sienna had been humming only moments before. Except here, in the dream, the melody had words.

Soft words. A little old-fashioned. They floated through the darkness like a lullaby Sienna had heard a hundred times. "Sleep now, my baby Kat." Sienna stared at her.