In the bedroom, their phones chimed together. They received another alert: Front camera temporarily unavailable. The feed remained black for three seconds, and then it was restored with a smeared, jittered image. A laughing shadow crossed the porch and dissolved. Upstairs, his aunt cried out, and the cat rocketed under the dresser softly.
His uncle crept to the landing with a heavy flashlight he never turned on. “Don’t provoke them,” his aunt hissed. “They’re downstairs and probably armed. They’ll come up.” A kitchen cabinet sounded as if it had been knocked down. A hallway sensor chimed politely that motion was detected. Then came adjusted pacing, footsteps that reached the stairs.