Chapter 67
Iwake up when the kitchen staff arrive at six a.m. They laugh when they see my improvised bed. One of them is kind enough to whip me up a breakfast taco with eggs and cheese. While I eat, I think about Roland again, so I decide to send him a text:
I deserve your hatred, your apathy, your disappointment.
Ever since that night we tricked you into going through Sutter's window, I have never had a moment's peace.
The only thing that would let me rest easy was doing whatever I could to help you be happy.
If that includes being with Felix, then I want that for you.
That was not a prank. Felix was the happiest I had ever seen him when he was with you.
He loves you. I've always been a bad influence on him, but you brought out the best in him.
So don't blame him for what happened. The prank on you was my idea.
I'm the monster, and I don't deserve your forgiveness.
If you could spare any to Felix, he does.
No response. I pass by Roland's house on my way home and spot his silhouette looking out his window. He's going to hide in that room the rest of his life like Emily Dickinson.
I sneak back to the house to grab some clothes and my toothbrush.
Through some divine miracle, Dinah's car isn't in the driveway, but when I get inside, the house is totally ransacked.
I follow a trail of objects into her bedroom, and her entire wardrobe is pulled out.
My grandmother had two suitcases, and both of those are gone.
Dinah fled. But where would she go?