Holding her breath, April strained for the sound of voices, but her pulse was racing and all she could hear was the whoosh of blood pumping through her veins. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, determined to regain her composure as Faith had done, but her pulse refused to slow and her blood pressure soared when she heard someone cry out.

‘But I do love you!’

April took another look through the peephole, as if seeing the open window would improve her hearing. Pressing her forehead against the fence, she could hear something. Was it Faith sobbing?

‘No! Keep away from me!’ Faith cried out.

‘For God’s sake!’ Nick yelled back. ‘Will you just …’

‘Stop! Leave me alone!’

April spun around, looking for something to use as a step to climb over the fence but there was nothing. She stood on tiptoe and curled her fingers over the top of the wooden panels, but she couldn’t find a foothold and remained planted on the wrong side of the fence. She gave up with a grunt of frustration that transformed into a whimper when she heard Faith yell, ‘No!’

The scream that followed was the most chilling sound April had ever heard, loud enough for Dexter to start yapping from the confines of the car. She fumbled in her pocket for her phone only to release a sob. It wasn’t there. She had given it to Molly.

Stumbling back to the front of the house, April found Molly cowering in the back of Faith’s car with a frantic Dexter, who launched himself at her when she opened the door. ‘I need the phone, now!’

It was pressed to Molly’s ear, but when April went to take it, Molly scrambled over to the other side of the car. The child was terrified and there was no time to coax the phone from her. Panting, April tried to keep her voice calm. ‘OK, fine. Is that your mum?’ Molly nodded. ‘Tell her Faith is being attacked! Tell her to phone the police!’

April had the presence of mind to close the car door before Dexter could escape, but she couldn’t lock Molly in. Faith had the keys. April felt powerless as she approached the house, at a loss for what to do next. Should she knock on the door? There was a risk that Nick would answer, but the interruption might just give Faith a fighting chance – although April hated to think what exactly was going on in there.

With nightmare images at the forefront of her mind, April hammered a fist against the door. She pressed the doorbell and kept her finger on it for what felt like an eternity. She caught a glimpse of movement through the frosted window. A figure drew closer and a hand reached up to open the door.

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