Then came a rainstorm—this time, unmistakably real.

Dark clouds gathered before evening, and by nightfall the windows trembled under wind and steady sheets of rain. Outside, the world blurred into something distant and unreachable.

Samuel had just finished reading from the Bible with Sasha and Nathan when the power flickered once, then held.

Nathan shifted closer. Sasha glanced toward the front window. No one spoke.

Then headlights swept briefly across the wall.

The engine outside cut off. Samuel stood—not rushed, not frozen, but with quiet certainty—setting the Bible down with care.

From the front of the house came the sound of car doors opening in the rain.

Nathan’s voice was small. “Dad?”

Samuel turned, steady, wanting his face to be the last calm thing Nathan saw before whatever came next.