EPILOGUE
MIA
The phone rings , and my heart nearly stops. I grab it so quickly that I barely notice the tremor in my fingers.
“Seth?” My voice is urgent, tight with anxiety, maybe even desperate.
“Hey, Twin.” His tone is too calm, too easy, like he hasn’t disappeared for days, like he doesn’t know how much it’s been eating me up inside.
I close my eyes, pressing the phone to my ear. “You’re alive.”
“Of course I am. And so are you, which is good.” He pauses, the silence stretching too long. “Now, just hold on a little longer.”
I swallow. “Where are you?”
“Running errands.”
“What kind of errands?”
He laughs, but there’s a hardness behind it. “Mia, really? You think I’m gonna give you the details? Nah.”
My jaw tightens. “Then tell me you’re safe.”
“Safe enough,” he replies, his voice too cool, too unconcerned. “I’m not dead, am I?”
“Seth, I’m sick with worry. Come home.”
He chuckles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “Relax, Mia. I’ve got stuff to do. Everything’s gonna be fine.”
The words feel empty, like a promise he can’t keep. But before I can press him further, his voice drops, quieter now. “There’s something else.”
My breath catches in my throat. “What?”
“Katie… she’s gone.”
Everything inside me freezes. My world tilts off its axis, and I feel like I’m falling.
“Katie died,” he says, the weight of the words hitting me like a punch to the gut. “She left you a letter. You’ll get it soon.”
“How… why?” The words barely leave my mouth.
“I can’t explain right now.”
“Seth—”
“Do you trust me?”
I close my eyes, a wave of fear washing over me. “…Yes.”
“Then hold on. It’ll be okay.”
“I don’t know if I can.” The words escape me before I can stop them, the fear raw in my voice.
There’s a beat of silence before he replies, his voice softer now. “You’ll be fine.”
But I don’t feel fine.
The line goes dead, and I stand there, the phone pressed to my ear, the weight of everything crashing down on me. Katie’s gone. Seth’s gone somewhere, hiding whatever truth he thinks I’m better off not knowing.
My heart races, panic bubbling in my chest, and I don’t know what comes next. I want to believe him. I want to trust that everything will be okay, but something inside me is screaming that it won’t.
“I need to find my brother,” I whisper into the emptiness, panic knotting my chest.