Chapter 4: The Roof Escape

👉 Previous action: Your parents, influenced by Julian, locked you in your attic bedroom.

The click of the lock reverberated in the stillness of my attic room. I stood frozen for a long moment, the chill of Julian’s betrayal seeping into my bones. He hadn’t just gaslit me; he’d weaponized my parents against me.

A few minutes later, I heard their footsteps recede down the main staircase. Silence.

Panic began to set in. Locked in. My phone, my laptop—all gone. The 72-hour deadline still ticking.

My gaze landed on the hinged roof window above my desk, usually used for ventilation. It wasn’t elegant, but it was an escape route.

I grabbed a small USB drive, shoving it into my pocket. It held a backup of the original raw audio file and the spectral analysis logs—proof. My only proof.

Climbing onto my desk, I unlatched the window and pushed it open, cool night air, heavy with the scent of damp earth and approaching rain, washing over me. I swung my legs over the sill, gripping the sturdy oak frame, and carefully lowered myself onto the asphalt shingles. Rain slicked the roof, making each movement precarious.

I shimmied down the slope, finding purchase with my feet on the drainpipe, until I could drop lightly into the overgrown bushes by the side of the house.

From the cover of the hydrangea bushes, I peered out into the darkness of the driveway. Two cars stood out. My sister Maya’s beat-up Honda Civic was parked behind the garage, tucked out of sight. Across the street, under the flickering streetlight, was the familiar faded blue station van of Sam Gable, my sound engineer friend from the local community radio station.

Each car represented a different gamble.