Chapter 2 - The Sound of Silence
Monday morning in the Foster house was usually a symphony of convenience. The Wi-Fi would be buzzing at high speeds, the coffee machine would be pre-warmed by a timer, and the kitchen pantry would be stocked with premium goods.
This Monday, it was dead silent.
Dylan woke up at 10:00 AM, his throat dry, expecting to find an iced coffee waiting for him. Instead, he found the kitchen dark. He hit the light switch—nothing. He tried the Wi-Fi on his phone; the network didn't even appear on his list.
"Mom!" he shouted, his voice echoing off the bare, unfurnished walls of the house they had lived in for years.
Sarah shuffled out, looking pale. "The power's out, Dylan. I checked the box, but everything looks fine. I tried calling the utility company, but they said there’s a 'service interruption' due to an unpaid balance. They said the account was deactivated."
"Deactivated?" Dylan laughed, though his eyes were darting around the room. "That's impossible. Rebecca pays that on auto-draft. She’s probably just being a brat because of last night. She’ll fix it."
But hours turned into a day, and the day turned into a cold, dark night. The reality began to sink in when a notification finally pinged on Sarah’s old tablet, which was still connected to a backup hotspot. It was an automated email from the mortgage lender.
"Urgent: Notice of Delinquency."
May you like
Dylan snatched the tablet, his fingers trembling. "She closed the account. The bank account linked to the mortgage. She didn’t just leave, Mom. She cut the cord."
The panic that set in wasn't the realization that they had hurt someone—it was the realization that they were fundamentally incapable of surviving without the parasite they had so openly despised. Dylan spent the entire evening pacing the driveway, looking down the street for Rebecca’s car, fully expecting her to come crawling back with groceries and a checkbook. He didn't understand that he wasn't waiting for a daughter; he was waiting for a ghost.
