Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
I stood in front of the mirror in Marcus’s room, staring at a stranger.
That was probably a good thing, considering where I was headed, but it still left me feeling uneasy. What if it didn’t work? What if they saw right through me?
Still, Lena had done a spectacular job and I’d be a fool to think otherwise.
It had taken about an hour and a half for us to get ready for the event. Marcus had left for his party and his roommates were gone too. Lena had picked up a few things from her sister. No fancy ball gowns like last time. Just some masks, a wig for me, and a couple leather pieces that went across one's torso like a harness.
I wore one of these pieces now over the top of a dark burgundy dress, the belt fitting across my rib cage, just under my breasts. The other straps came up from under my arms and cut across my collarbone, connecting to a choker at my neck. I made sure to adjust my charm necklace so it didn’t rub against the leather. The dress hugged my hips, the skirt ending at my thighs. There was only a small amount of bare skin between the ends of the skirt and the black thigh-high stockings Lena lent me, with little leather straps connected to a garter.
Getting everything on with a messed-up arm was a feat in itself. Having a wheelchair-bound friend trying to help made it downright hilarious. We couldn’t stop cackling as I sat in front of Lena while she struggled to help me put on the stockings. Eventually, she called a friend over to help us both, paying her with a bottle of wine for the assistance. Once we had the clothes down, we worked on makeup.
After that came the wig. Lena suggested it casually, but I thought it was a good idea to hide my identity even if it made me a little uncomfortable. The short black hair barely touched my shoulders, the locks wavy like my own hair. I actually liked the length and realized just how unkept and unruly my hair was, with the ends starting to split. Maybe it was time I cut my hair. Maybe I could get Lena to do it for me.
We tied the mask to me next, a simple leather mask that went across my eyes. Once Lena secured it to my face, the last thing I did was slip on the sling. It took away some of the allure, but it was still necessary for now.
When all was said and done, we checked ourselves in the mirror while Lena applied the last touches to herself. She wore a black dress that showed off her tattoos, with a harness similar to mine. Her hair was done up halfway with the ends wavy, a skull clip holding up the top. She wore black and green eyeshadow and had studded bat earrings dangling from her ears. She looked adorable.
“We’re hot,” she commented.
I laughed, nodding.
As good as we looked, and as confident as it might make me, I was still wary of leaving the house and getting caught.
“That’s the thrill of it,” Lena said when I voiced my concerns. “But really, Eve, I don’t expect anyone to recognize you. And if anyone asks, you're not Eve but Morgan.”
“Morgan?”
She shrugged. “A character I roleplayed in a game once. Not my thing but she was a cool vampire.”
“Great.”
I stared at my reflection, my eyes flickering to the cut on my temple just above my eyebrow. I recalled what I’d done last night. The memory of Emery’s phantom smiling as I did it made me shudder.
Hopefully, because I’d be in an open place with people around me, I wouldn’t see him; he couldn’t haunt me unless I was alone.
“I think we’re good to go,” Lena said, putting the last few items into her bag.
“So how exactly are we getting there?”
“Yeah, about that.” She took out her phone. “Looks like the Uber is almost here.” I glared, and she gave me a sheepish smile in return. “Don’t worry, it’s an SUV so they can accommodate me.”
“That’s not the point.”
“It’s fine, Eve, there will be plenty of others in the city to take us home.”
I should call this off. This was a bad idea. And now I felt idiotic. If I got caught, it was my own fault.
Just have fun , a little voice said. That’s what this was about. To take your mind off all the awful shit. You’re allowed to have fun.
Yet, I still felt guilty. Like I shouldn’t be allowed to have fun at all. Not after everything the last few weeks. And if the cops did grab me, I’d feel like a total dumbass.
Only the idea of utterly devastating my friend kept my mouth shut. And she promised we wouldn’t stay long. The chance that we could just hang out for the rest of the night after was appealing enough.
The ride showed up just as I helped wheel Lena out the door. The man in the SUV came around and was nice enough to help get her into the back while I slid in next to her on the other side.
Once we got into the city, we drove into an area I didn’t recognize, down a street into an emptier, abandoned territory, with some of the buildings broken and rotting, several blackened husks burned up from fires.
When we arrived at an old, four-story brick building that looked like a run-down theater, the Uber driver parked by a side door where a small crowd stood beneath a single orange light.
Once Lena was in her chair and maneuvered onto the path, we joined the line. At the entrance, I pulled my ID from inside my sling, where I’d stashed it along with my phone, while Lena handed the tickets to the doorman. He checked our IDs, scanned the tickets, and then gave Lena a quick look.
“The event takes up multiple floors,” he said. “Let someone know if you need to use the service elevator, okay, sweetheart? Or if you need anything else.”
She thanked him as we moved inside. “Hate when they call me that,” she whispered as we moved through a short wide passage, lit only by red light. Drawings of skulls, snakes, eyes, and hands took up both walls.
No surprise the place was dark, with mostly red light to see by. Only the bar at the front had soft yellow light along the bottom and across the mirror at the back. Twisted chandeliers with black lace and beads hung from above. Black skulls adorned tables and counters. A deep EDM beat came from the next room where the DJ played, and people were already mingling and dancing.
In the crowd, we saw leather jackets, latex, net leggings, tight outfits, and boots that could stomp someone’s face in. Many of the clubbers wore heavy makeup while others, like me, wore masks. There were a few in dominatrix outfits and fetish gear.
We got to the bar first so Lena could get her drink. And then we explored.
The room with the dance floor was impressively large with a high ceiling and a single balcony at the top where people could watch from above. Black and red skeletons hung along the ceiling, reaching down for us, while scenes from slasher movies and erotic imagery played on a screen behind the DJ.
Past that, we found more rooms. Some had erotic paintings hung on display while others had people being tied up, shibari style. There was a lot to take in but ironically none of it threw me into a panic like I feared. I remained calm as I walked behind Lena, studying every room and corner in case I saw someone with a badge and a gun on their hip.
There was security, but no police. A few people eyed me and Lena as we passed, especially some of the men, and that got me a little tense, but I told myself over and over that they were just checking us out and not trying to determine if I was the crazy girl who broke out of the mental asylum outside the city.
There were way more rooms than we expected, each with a theme, some occupied with couples sitting in loveseats doing things I didn’t expect to see in public.
It didn’t make me uncomfortable, but it did make me feel that ache of loneliness again, as if I was missing a part of me. That longed to be touched, held, kissed like them. I remembered how Emery felt. How he filled me, made me feel so fucking alive it hurt. I felt that ache in my chest and the throbbing in my veins that went from my ears down between my thighs. A desperate, starving ache I couldn’t sate. In one room, a guy had pinned a girl against the wall, almost exactly how Emery had taken me the first time.
Watching them made me depressed and horny. A shitty combination.
As we went past another room with a few more couples, Lena gave me a look. “Marcus probably would have enjoyed this more than he thought,” she mumbled.
We wandered through the other floors, Lena getting one of the workers to help her in the service elevator while I took the stairs. The second floor was mainly just the balcony looking over the dance floor with a couple lounges. The third floor was off limits, some VIP thing, so we headed to the fourth.
I got there before Lena and found a ballroom with high windows along the back and a small stage to the left. Between the windows were mirrors encased in fancy black frames. A few more chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
People mingled while drinking, as softer music played. A bar stood in one corner, in front of windows where I could see parts of the city all the way to the river.
I stepped closer to one window and stared at the distant water until I felt a hand on my arm. Lena smiled at me, and I smiled back.
“You doing okay so far?” she asked.
“I think so.”
“How about a drink? It’s on me.”
“Do I gotta flirt with you too?” I teased.
“Yes,” she said sternly. “And make sure to smile while pretending to be interested when I talk.”
We laughed as I followed her over to the bar. I ordered a drink called ‘Bloody Morgan’, after my alter ego’s name. A deep red drink that came with cherries skewered with a little sword. It was sweet and a little sour.
Most of the room was bare. Only when we got to the stage did I understand why. It was meant to be the focal point.
We stared at the display, and I felt that sudden unease coming back up like bile.
“Some kink that is, huh?” Lena said, sounding a little uneasy herself.
The display showed a female mannequin laid out and tied up in a slender glass box, her mouth and eyes covered in duct tape. Seven masked figures in dark suits surrounded her, each with some kind of weapon in hand. A couple of them had blades, one had a cane, another a paddle.
I assumed it was some morbid version of Snow White. Someone with a less fucked-up past like mine might find it oddly artistic.
But all I saw as I stared at the woman was me, tied up in a bathtub inside my family home. With Emery’s heavy footfalls thudding through the house in the dark.
My heart dropped, a chill running down my spine as heat trailed up my neck and face. The memory cut through me like a knife, opening the wound.
You are so delusional, a little voice griped. Loving a man who could hurt you like that.
It reminded me of Leo’s words. Still, I shoved them down, not wanting to hear them. Not wanting to listen.
I turned my attention to a small round table near the display and noticed another girl standing there, not much older than me or Lena. She, too, stared at the display, her arms crossed, one hand clutching a card. Our eyes met as she glanced over her shoulder, her blue-green hair swaying down her back.
In her eyes was a fierce yet haunted look. The look of someone who'd experienced something in their past too. Only, she seemed all too entranced by the display. Not uncomfortable like me.
I took a generous swallow of my drink to calm my nerves before I stepped over to her. I looked down at the table covered by a simple black sheet. On top was a stack of cards the size of my hand with a website and a QR code. I took one and studied it.
“Umbra. A Horror Experience,” I read aloud.
Lena joined me and reached over for her own card, flipping it front to back. “What? Like a haunted house?”
“Not exactly,” the girl said. She nodded toward the display. “In a haunted house, the monsters can’t touch you. But in a horror experience, they do whatever they like.”
Lena looked at her mortified. “People pay to let some guys like that do that to them?”
The girl smirked. “Yeah.”
Lena cursed under her breath. “I mean I don’t mind a little roleplay and I love horror, don’t get me wrong. But this is a big ‘hell no’ for me. I would slap the shit out of any guy who even teased using a knife on me.”
The girl shrugged. “Don’t knock it till you try it as they say.”
“Have you tried it…this experience?” I asked her, curious.
“Not yet,” she mumbled. “They only just started.”
“But you want to?” Lena sounded shocked.
“Yes.”
Lena gave me a look like the chick was probably crazy. I peered at the girl, seeing someone who felt empty and wanted to feel whole. Like me.
“It’s just a fantasy,” I assured Lena. “It’s still nothing like actually being kidnapped and tortured.”
The girl looked at me curiously. “How do you know?”
The memory of being tied in the dark with a madman stalking close by swam through my head. “Because in the end,” I said almost bitterly, “at least you know you’re not dying.”
The girl fixed me with a sad look as if she understood now. “Either way, it would make me feel alive,” she whispered.
I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rise. That feeling of being watched suddenly took over me.
The girl’s eyes left mine to look behind me and widened. I turned my head to follow her gaze.
A masked man stood watching us by the bar.
Watching me.
He wore a black mask, the mouth stitched into a smile from one ear to the other. His clothes were all black, tactical pants, and cargo jacket with the hood up.
He moved off into the crowd and disappeared.
The unease in my gut worsened. I placed my drink on the table. “Hey, Lena, I think I’d like to go now.”
I tried to ignore her look of disappointment. “All right, let’s head down.”
We waved the girl goodbye who stayed to admire the display. I helped Lena first into the elevator, then started for the stairs, feeling tense, the paranoia beginning to slither its way back into my head and heart.
That same feeling I had in the park with Liam overtook me, but it was worse, like that feeling of being hunted but unable to see the predator in the dark. After enough times of being stalked and chased, I trusted that gut feeling more than anything. I rushed down the stairs to the first floor trying not to collide with those coming up. At the bottom, I stuck to the wall as I made my way over to the elevator, the shadows distorting faces. Every time I saw someone in a mask, my heart galloped.
It couldn’t be Severfalls. Why the fuck would they wear masks?
No, this was something else.
I thought of those fanatics Jamie had told me about. The ones who’d been making theories about my escape.
Could they have been following me? Stalking me?
Either way, I was ready to go.
I turned to the elevator, wondering what was taking so long. Why hadn't it come down yet?
I pressed the button, but nothing changed. I saw a big man with SECURITY on his shirt walking by, and I stopped him.
“I think the elevator is stuck. My friend’s inside,” I told the burly guy who gave me a weird look. Probably because I looked more scared than I should be about the elevator being stuck on another floor.
The guy took out his walkie. As he did, I studied the crowd. I should tell him I felt like I was being stalked. That I was unsafe. That I should stay by him until my friend comes down and maybe someone could walk us out and stay with us until the Uber came. Yeah, that was a good idea.
Through the bobbing of dancers and strobing of lights, a lone figure caught my eye, and I grew still.
It was a tall man, with the face of a skull.
Time slowed as he watched me.
“No,” I whispered. No. Not now. How could he be here? How could my phantom have followed me?
His skull face wasn’t how it usually looked. Now it was like he wore a mask again, black with red slashes across the face like scars.
But still, that face smiled at me. And I knew it was him.
“Miss, hello?”
I blinked and forced myself to look at the security guy.
“She’s on the third floor,” he said. “The elevator acts up sometimes.”
“Will you take me to her?” I didn’t dare look back at my phantom, knowing he must still be there.
“I have to keep watch on this floor. But one of my guys is with her. Just have to wait.”
He was gone, off to check on a rowdy group near the bar before I could say more. I made the mistake of looking back over and saw my phantom was still there, only now he was making his way toward me.
Panic over took me, and I forced myself to move, heading back for the stairs. Fuck this, I’d meet Lena instead and tell the guard to take us out some other way.
I sprinted up the steps, two at a time. When I turned onto the stairway leading to the third floor, I halted as two men in masks blocked my way. One of them was the guy with the black mask and the stitched-up smile, X’s where his eyes were. The other wore a white mask with a frowning clown-face in black ink.
From their body language, I knew they were deliberately blocking my way.
“Excuse me,” I said, my heart pounding.
They didn’t budge.
I took a step back, and they took a step down.
“Don’t make this difficult,” said Clown-face.
Terrified, I whirled around and bolted down the steps, not daring to look back.
I rushed past the second floor. When I got to the ground level, I panicked again, seeing my phantom by the door. There was another level leading down to the basement, one me and Lena had yet to explore. It said “The Labyrinth” with an arrow pointing down.
I flew down without a thought.
It was just as dark below as it was upstairs, with red and orange light casting a dim glow overhead. What I found was a series of rooms, each connected to the next, much like the layout above. Narrow passages ran between some of them, lined with two-way mirrors that allowed those walking by to see inside.
I wandered through the rooms blindly. A few were occupied by couples, while others stood empty. Each room had its own theme—different colors, designs, and setups. Some featured chairs or couches, others had poles, mannequins, or nothing at all.
I entered a dark green room with taxidermy on the walls, then started for the next door leading into a passage and froze.
Out of the darkness, he appeared, my phantom with his now black and red skull-face, blocking my way.
I was too afraid to move as he stopped a few feet from me.
“Eve,” he whispered. And for some reason, it almost made my knees buckle. It was so real. His voice sounded different somehow, so raw, so desperate. Not taunting like usual.
I couldn’t move. Even as he drew close to me. How could he be here? I was so sure I’d be safe if I wasn’t alone.
But now I was alone with him.
“Baby, it’s okay,” he said softly. “It’s okay.” He reached out for me. His gloved hand brushed a lock of hair out of my face, making me flinch away, shocking me at how real it felt. He put up his hand as if to show it was safe. “It’s all right, sweetheart, I’m not going to hurt you.” He sounded so sincere, and a part of me wanted to let go again, let myself go to him.
I blinked away tears, my body shaking uncontrollably, as he stood an inch from me and lifted his hands to cup my face, his thumbs brushing along each side. My eyes fluttered shut at his touch.
Why did it have to feel so real?
I parted my lips, wanting to sink into him.
I opened my eyes, staring at his skull-face.
And dread overtook me.
Real men were still looking for me. And this had to be a trick. My mind was truly breaking, making me see him clearer than ever. Making me feel him. Why now? Why was he doing this?
No, I had to get away. I couldn’t give in, not now.
His thumb brushed over my chin and across my lips.
A trick…
It was a trick.
He couldn’t be real.
He wasn’t real.
Run, Evee. Run.
I heard voices coming from behind, startling me.
“You’re not real,” I whispered.
The phantom stiffened, his hands stilling.
“I am,” he said firmly. “I’m right here, Eve.”
I shook my head.
“We’re out of time,” came a voice behind me. “Grab her. We need to go.”
FUCKING RUN.
My survival instincts finally kicked into gear. Before I could even think of what I was doing, I pulled away from the phantom before me. When he tried to keep hold of me, talking me down again, I kneed him in the crotch, hardly taking time to watch him go down before I bolted past him for the passage.
I didn’t look back, didn’t stop. Behind me, I heard only Emery’s angry, husky voice snapping, “Stay the fuck back.”
Exit. Where the fuck was the exit?
Rooms passed, and I was sure I’d lost my way, until I saw a sign overheard saying EXIT with an arrow pointing to the left.
I rushed down another passage into another room but didn’t see the exit. This one had a set of mirrors in frames spread along each wall. In the center was a dark purple loveseat. For a moment, I didn’t see a door.
Shit .
I went to turn back, but Emery was right behind me.
I whimpered as he towered in front of the doorframe. I backed away as he moved in.
“Eve,” he said calmly. “I know this is hard. But I need you to stay with me.”
Liar. He was trying to get me caught.
I kept the loveseat between us, trying to find a way to sneak past.
He’s not real, he can’t actually stop you , said a logical voice. He can’t hurt you.
And yet I was utterly terrified that he could.
Another more sinister voice laughed. Evee, baby, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m just going to bash your brains in.
Bad memories. Bad. Can’t get caught. Can’t give in.
He was talking to me again, but I wasn’t listening.
Not real. NOT REAL.
I tried to get him to circle around several times, but he refused. Eventually, like a doe fighting for her life and deciding to take the chance, I lunged around one side and tried to rush for the passage.
He caught me with ease. I screamed as he pulled me to him, not expecting him to grab me. How could a ghost do that?
He shoved his hand across my mouth to stifle my scream. I tried to flail out of his hold, and in doing so, I pulled at my bad arm. Searing pain shot up my shoulder, turning my scream into a cry.
Emery’s phantom cursed softly. As if out of desperation, he hauled me away from the passage and brought me closer to one of the tall mirrors, forcing us to face it. I writhed in his arms, not understanding why I couldn’t get free, how he could hold me like this.
No, they were coming. Please, don’t do this.
Tears streamed down behind my mask, but the phantom refused to let me go.
He lowered his face to be almost level with mine, skull face smiling in the mirror. “Look,” he said. “Look at me, Evee. Look.”
Sobs racked me with each breath.
“I’m right here.”
He let go of my mouth to curl his fingers underneath his chin. He pulled upward and slipped off the mask.
I stared at him shocked disbelief.
“I’m sorry, baby, I shouldn’t have scared you like this. I couldn’t risk being seen.”
I think I fainted for a mere second because I went limp.
His face. It was my Emery’s face looking back at me.
Damn him.
But how could I say no to that face?
“It’s me.”
I caught his eyes. Yellow in the light just like I remember. His hair was longer, dark wavy locks falling behind his ears. The scars were the same, each and every one.
My lip trembled, a small whimper escaping me.
I really couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t anymore. Maybe I was finally broken. But this felt so real and I wanted it so bad.
And I couldn’t fight him now even if I wanted to.
I tilted my head back, resting it against his chest, letting my body sink into his.
“Emery,” I whispered.
“That’s right.” He smiled at me, and it brought more tears to my eyes. This ghost was so wicked I wanted to hate him for this, but I couldn’t. “I’ve got you,” he said.
I stared at him as if he was some angel. I couldn’t run or hide from him no matter how hard I tried. And I didn’t want to, not when he looked like this. Not when he felt like this.
I wanted to feel him more and was desperate for his touch. “I miss you,” I whispered now like a prayer. “I miss you, Emery.”
He frowned as if confused now, his fiery gaze searching mine. But I didn’t care. I freed my good arm and took hold of his hand. I led him downward, making him squeeze my breast.
I’ll have this then. I’ll have Emery like this before they finally get me. Even if it was a lie.
I coaxed him down between my thighs to brush against my garter and lace underwear. His eyes darkened as his fingers traced along me, then narrowed as they slowly drew upward to look at the passage behind us.
I moved my hips, rubbing against him. He hardened even as I felt his body tense. His cold eyes made me shiver as heat stirred in my lower belly.
“Fuck,” he whispered as I let him slip under the lace, his fingers tracing up and around my clit. As if he couldn’t help it, he freed his hand in order to tug off the glove, then quickly, he reached down so that his bare skin was on mine.
“Emery,” I pleaded, with a hitched breath. He lunged forward, almost slamming me against the mirror, pressing me into the glass, fingers trembling as he dipped inside. He pulled them out to taste me, then brought his hand back down, ripping the lace away to dive in again.
“God, I missed you. I missed this so fucking much, Eve. Do you know how bad I’ve wanted you back? How I was ready to kill,” he growled in my ear. “I got you back. And you’ll never leave my side. Never. Again.” He pumped in and out, thumb tracing my clit, tightening me up, making me writhe again, but this time for another reason.
I cried out, clenching around his fingers, my body throbbing, while he practically crushed me into the mirror.
“My Eve,” he whispered. “Perfect like I remember.”
He held me there until the waves passed, and I was left breathless.
In the mirror, I saw a couple looking in and noticing us. Emery gave them a look that got them turning away. His head came down to touch mine and I felt his body shaking behind me.
He mumbled something else I didn’t catch as he let his fingers slide from me. He pulled away in order to put back on his glove and then the mask.
“We have to go, sweetheart,” he said.
I hardly took myself off the glass to look at him. “Go where?”
“Some place safe.”
I stared at him, confused. Before I could ask where exactly that was, the pair from before finally located us and entered the room.
“Time to go,” said Clown-face.
I shook my head, still scared, but Emery lifted me into his arms easily.
As he held me close, he followed the pair out into the passage. They slipped through the Labyrinth as if they already knew it by heart.
Instead of taking the stairs, they steered to the right toward a door I hadn’t noticed. As one of them pulled it, the elevator by the stairway opened.
“Eve!” Lena wheeled out and came toward us. “What the fuck—” she stopped, her eyes widening in horror.
“Fucking hell,” Clown-face said. He stepped around us, taking out a knife hidden somewhere on him.
Somehow, I was able to snap out of my daze in order to shout at him. “Don’t touch her!”
Clown-face ignored me, flipping the knife so the blunt side was aimed toward Lena. He raised his arm, ready to strike. “Sorry, lovely.”
Lena gasped, backing into a wall.
“Lez,” Emery called, and Clown-face stopped to look at him.
“She’s seen us leaving with her,” Clown-face said. “She’s her friend—she’s going to talk. I told you, if anyone who knew her saw us take her, they’d have to go.”
Emery’s hands tightened around me. “Bring her.”
Clown-face laughed as he dropped his arm. “You can’t be serious.”
The silent one in the black mask tapped on the door and pointed at his watch.
“Do it.” Emery seethed.
“Motherfucker,” Clown-face said, sheathing his knife. Even with the mask, I could tell how exasperated he was. He went toward Lena, and I snarled at him like a damn cat, warning him again not to touch her.
Once more, he ignored me. Lena swiped at him, and he caught her arm to pull her up. She went to scream, but he quickly shoved his hand over mouth. She struggled against his hold, but he remained calm as he adjusted her into a position to carry her.
“Don’t hurt her!” I squirmed in Emery’s grip but he held me tight.
“Dom, get the chair,” Clown-face ordered. The silent one did as asked. With us in tow, they slipped through the door. They made their way down the dimly lit passage, then up another set of stairs that led into a garage full of storage. They made their way out to the back alley until we came upon—
My blood went cold.
The Mustang with the red stripe down its side.
Severfalls.
No, I won’t go back.
I tried to rip myself from Emery’s arms. Not my Emery. He wouldn’t do this to me. This phantom son of a bitch betrayed me. I swung at him, catching him on the jaw, but he refused to let me go. He pulled me onto his lap in the car, trying to calm me, but I refused.
Lena was fighting her own battle as Clown-face went around the other side and mirrored us, forcing Lena on his lap. Only, he wasn’t having any of it. He pulled out his knife again and set it against her chest. “Quit fighting. I really don’t want to use this.”
She did stop, albeit while trembling and cursing under her breath over and over.
The trunk behind us slammed shut as the silent guy put Lena’s chair in the back. Then he got in the driver seat and started the car.
I should have been there for her. I should have been the one comforting her. That was my damn job. But I was so afraid they were taking us back to Severfalls, that I was going to be locked up and put under, I couldn’t think straight for one second. I hit the phantom, screamed in his face just like I had before, what felt like ages ago at my family home. Even then, Emery held me without a word.
And no amount of anger from me or pleas from Lena stopped the driver from pulling out onto a street, driving off into the dark, and taking us away.