AURORA MOON
Aurora crouched in the shadowed alcove behind the sweeping staircase, her heart thundering in her chest. She pressed a trembling hand to her lips to prevent any sounds from escaping.
Two floors below, she'd found a mudroom near a side entrance: boots, a rain slicker, a battered scarf. She'd snatched them up, staggering just beyond the threshold to stamp a trail of footprints in the flowerbeds and leave muddy handprints along a fence. She'd even torn a scrap from her scarf and knotted it on a branch, making it look as though she'd fled into the woods.
Then, pulse roaring in her ears, she'd doubled back, slipping into a linen closet and wedging herself between stacks of fresh towels, her entire body trembling as she counted the minutes. She'd waited until the initial search party thundered out the doors before creeping out and settling in the shadowed alcove beneath the stairs.
