Boomerang eats without a care in the world, tail flicking happily, and I add milk to my tea and slip back into Cam’s room. I turn on the side lamp just as the film credits roll.
Even the end-credit music is unsettling enough to make me change the channel—something light and silly, anything to untangle the nerves knotted in my gut.
It’s ridiculous, really. A woman who’s been through hell, faced monsters in real life—and I still lose it over fake ghosts and CGI demons.
Not that I’d ever admit it to Cam.
He’d absolutely be the type to throw on a mask and scare the shit out of me just for laughs.
It’s just gone 1 a.m, and the weight in my gut won’t let up.
I hope he’s safe. I hope he brings Kyla home—not just for her, but selfishly, more for him. Because if he doesn’t… I don’t know how he’ll carry it.
She was the beginning of all of this. The catalyst. And for that, maybe I owe her something. Because if she hadn’t been taken, I might never have met him.
I owe her a lot.
But I don’t owe her him.
The thought of him coming back to me—to this bed, to these sheets—makes the wait feel bearable. Makes the dread just a little easier to carry.
I just hope he’s okay.
“You know you’re my favourite, right?” Uncle Mick whispers—his breath too close, too warm against my ear.
But he loves me. He wouldn’t hurt me. This is normal.
That’s what he said.
He said I’m special. Chosen by God.
But it has to stay secret.
Mom and Dad can’t ever know.
If they find out, I’ll go to hell
And I don’t want to go to hell.
I squeeze my eyes shut, willing it all to stop.
I just want to sleep.
I don’t want him here.
Every time he touches me, my stomach knots. I feel sick.
But I lie still.
Because what if God punishes me for being afraid? For being weak?
The sound of his watch shifting behind me turns my insides to ice.
But I don’t move. I lie here, frozen, hoping, pretending to sleep in hope it will make him leave.
“You’re such a good girl, Nell. God’s watching over you, you know that?”
His breath licks my skin, hot and unwanted.
