The afternoon was bright and ordinary when Alex Stewart first saw it.
Stone walls flickered across her laptop screen — a Scottish manor, centuries old, its hallway dim and narrow. At the far end, something stood in the shadow. Not moving. Not blending. Watching.
Before she could make sense of it, chaos erupted in her own backyard — a chocolate lab crashing into her pool, water exploding into sunlight. And right behind the dog came Kyle.
Calm. Observant. Too observant.
When he studies the paused footage, the humor drains from his face.
“Pause that,” he says quietly.
Because the shadow at the end of the hallway?
It isn’t lighting.

And whatever it is… it noticed her.