Liam reached out and grabbed the massive double door. The cold iron handle felt strangely warm to the touch, almost like it had been used recently. He pressed his palm against it and pushed.
The door creaked open with a heavy groan that echoed through the silence like a scream in the void.
Inside, the ballroom looked exactly as it had during the midnight party—grand chandeliers, marble floors, and towering pillars. But now, with no people, no lights, no music—it felt like a ghost of its former self.
The whole place was shrouded in an unnatural darkness. A suffocating, thick gloom.
Liam narrowed his eyes.
The reason became obvious.
Every single window had been covered with thick black cloth.
His gaze swept across the ballroom. The silence was so heavy it felt like it had mass.
He didn't even know where to begin. No sign of life. No trail. No direction.
