Six Months Later
ROUX
After the fire, the local deputies scoured the woods, looking for Elias.
They didn’t end up finding him, but they did find her—along with several other sets of unidentified remains in his basement.
It’s been six months since they found Jace’s body, but I still dream about her.
Each time she appears in my dreams, it’s like I’m seeing her through younger eyes—watching her life play out on an alternate timeline.
She’s happier. She’s alive—and so is Cyrus.
We all laugh together, sneaking out to the woods behind our college campus to drink beer.
We’ve escaped—beyond the edge of our family’s wrath.
I take a deep breath, hesitating before I knock on the Landrys’ door. Kate creaks it open a couple of inches, her puffy eyes meeting mine. “Oh, Roux, it’s you,” she cries, a sob lurking behind her words.
“Hi, Miss Landry,” I say softly, choosing my words carefully. “I don’t mean to be a bother, but I was wonderin’ if it would be alright if I grabbed a few things outta Jace’s room. Some of it’s mine, but some of it is just somethin’ to remember her by.”
Kate’s face falls, and I’m ready to start apologizing profusely, but she opens the door further. She nods her head, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. “Of course. I haven’t had the heart to go through any of it yet.”
I step inside, reaching to give Kate’s hand a small squeeze. The hallway to Jace’s room looks longer than I remember, stretching before my eyes.
“You don’t mind if I stay out here, do you, Roux?” Fresh tears swell in her eyes, and she wraps her arms around herself. “I don’t think I’m ready to go in there.”
“Not at all,” I reply, secretly relieved. I let out a shaky breath. “I’ll only be a minute, I promise.”
I walk steadily down the hall, but once I’m behind the closed bedroom door, I race to her bed.
Lying flat on my belly, I crawl underneath the bed as far as I can go.
My hands search through the darkness until my fingers land on a piece of paper.
My heart races, and I grab it, working myself back out into the open.
My face stares up at me from the page. An ache builds at the back of my throat, working its way into a scream.
Cyrus’s voice speaks inside my head, clear as day.
“I found somethin’ strange in Jace’s room. Our photos were taped on a piece of paper: mine, yours, Mattie’s...and Jace’s. Only mine and Mattie’s had big red exes over them. The date and our ages at the time of our deaths were there too.”