Chapter 52 Intrusive

***Hazel***

I wake up already tired.

Not the kind of tired sleep fixes. The kind that settles into your bones and hums there, low and constant, like a warning you don’t know how to turn off.

The house is quiet when I step out of the spare bedroom, the security system lights blinking softly like it’s breathing. Armed. Monitoring. Watching.

Doing its job.

I tell myself that should be comforting.

It