CHAPTER 2 — “THE HOUSE BEGINS TO SHIFT”
(Sound of distant sirens approaching)
Caretaker: “I should… call the master of the house.”
Blonde Woman (grabbing her arm): “No! You don’t need to involve anyone else!”
Pregnant Woman (from stairs): “He’s already involved. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Caretaker: “What does that mean?”
Pregnant Woman: “It means this isn’t the first time she’s done something like this.”
Blonde Woman (voice tightening): “Stop talking like you know me!”
Pregnant Woman: “I know patterns. I recognize rehearsed panic.”
Caretaker (now uneasy): “Miss… I think you should calm down…”
Blonde Woman (snapping instantly): “Don’t tell me to calm down!”
(She immediately softens again, switching tone)
Blonde Woman (crying again): “She pushed me… I swear…”
Pregnant Woman (low voice): “There it is again.”
Caretaker: “What?”
Pregnant Woman: “The switch. Real emotion doesn’t reset like that.”
(Footsteps at the entrance. Heavy. Multiple.)
Detective Ruiz (arriving): “Everyone step back from the staircase.”
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Blonde Woman (instantly collapsing into victim pose): “Officer… thank God… she—”
Detective Ruiz (interrupting): “I didn’t ask yet.”
