The estate buzzed with tense energy, a palpable reminder that something had gone terribly wrong.

The sun was sinking into the horizon, casting the grounds in a golden-orange haze that should have felt peaceful.

But the air was thick with unease.

Guards rushed back and forth, their normally stoic faces marked with urgency as their radios crackled with overlapping reports.

Annabelle sat on one of the lounge chairs in the sprawling garden just outside the estate's main house, her body trembling despite the warm evening breeze.

Her vision swam as she fought to clear her head from the lingering effects of the drug that had knocked her unconscious.

She felt...