Sophie.
She was sitting upright, like someone had posed her. Like a doll. Her hair had been shaved off. Her teeth were missing, all of them. But her lips were stretched in a smile. Her eyes stared at me with a hollow, glassy stare. Whoever did this had wanted her to suffer.
I felt bile rise in my throat. Her white dress was soaked in blood. That familiar metallic stench filled my nose. It pulled me straight back to the night I found Ian. I turned away before I could be sick, stumbling back toward Cameron.
But before I reached him, I saw Troy. He was the cousin who worked for The Mechanic. He had been the one meant to drive the van during the robbery. He was looking at me. I knew he recognized me.
I had to hide, and fast.
People were puking and screaming all around. I could already hear sirens in the distance. I couldn’t be there when they arrived.
I sprinted through the woods, dodging branches and roots, until I saw Gloomsbury Manor rising through the trees. The front door creaked open as I reached the porch, as if it had been waiting for me. I ran inside and slammed it shut behind me.
Vivian stood at the top of the stairs. She looked right through me, her expression empty. Hollow. She didn’t say anything. Just turned and kept walking.
She was sleepwalking again.
I ran upstairs. As I reached the attic door, I saw her again.
Vivian was looking at me.
The lights went out throughout the entire house, and I heard screams.
“Lenore,” I whispered, trying to back away, but she wasn’t there. I rushed to her room, but she was gone.
Screams came from downstairs.
I ran down and saw the maid standing at the front door of the master bathroom. It had a large bathtub inside, and as I pushed past her, the lights flicked on.
Lenore was floating in the tub.
Her body was covered in carved words. A razor was still in her hand. Her eyes were closed, and the water had already turned red.
I ran to her and jumped into the bath, grabbing her body and shaking her face to wake her.
“Trouble,” I whispered.
Her eyes opened barely.
That was when I saw the words she had carved into her skin:
Fake. Faith. Dream. Not worth it. Weak.
We never really know. We never know what people carry inside. And she carried so much. So much fucking pain. She always thought of everyone else, never herself. And now the words, the ones I had always struggled to say to her, were screaming inside me. All at once. I didn’t want to lose her. I couldn’t.
I slapped her cheeks again, but she had lost so much blood. There was blood everywhere.
I wanted to hold her forever. Take all those words from her and wear them myself. Because I had them too. I knew what she was going through. I had been there.
Ezekiel came in, screaming, and tore her from my arms. He carried her away. His eyes were a bright light blue now. I could have sworn they were green the other day, but I couldn’t focus on anything except her.
I needed her back.
I needed her in my arms.
I heard the car door open outside. He was taking her to get help. But then I saw Troy, standing at the top of the hill.
I froze.
