“You’ll have to see it to believe it,” she murmurs.
In front of us, a long hallway yawns farther than I can see, the walls crumbling with age, the lights dim when she flips a switch.
There’s no one here, but I can hear moans, screams, whimpers.
“I don’t understand,” I feel like whimpering myself. Ashley rolls her eyes.
“Do you really think someone like Dare is without baggage? Grow up, little girl.”
She pushes open the doors as we pass, and they’re all empty, every single one.
But I feel presences here,
Ugliness.
When we’re almost at the end of the hall, Ashley turns to me, her gaze ugly now and I should’ve known.
“His mother was here for years,” she tells me, like she’s confiding a secret. “After what Dare did, it’s no wonder.”
Her eyes are so knowing and I close my eyes, Because the screams are deadening.
I my head, I see Dare and he’s so small.
He stands above a bed, hovering above two sleeping people.
Something is shiny in his hand, something flashes in the night, And I try to tell him no, to warn him not to move, But of course he can’t hear.
Then there’s screaming and blood.
My uncle is bloody in the bed, and a dark-haired woman is screaming.
I see the alcove in the crypts and his name is carved in the stone.
Richard William Savage II.
Dare’s eyes are wide and dark,
Haunted,
Haunted,
Haunted.
I gasp and open my eyes and my reality isn’t any better.
I’m not in an abandoned clinic any longer, and I probably never was.
I’m in a small but well-appointed room,
A room in a facility.
A room frozen in time.
The room is lined with pictures of Dare.
Ranging from toddlerhood, to primary school, to secondary school, to University, Dare smiles at me from the walls. When he was small, he smiled, but over time, More and more,
He became haunted and sad.
The change in his eyes is startling.
And then,
Suddenly,
A woman is in front of me, dark-haired. She has Dare’s eyes, and I know who she is.
Olivia Savage.
I hesitate, and she smiles.
“Are you here to bring me my son?” she asks politely. “The boy from the pictures? He did something bad, but he’s sorry.”
I can’t breathe.
I can’t breathe.
I stare at her face, at her smile, and at the unlocked door.
She reaches out her hand to me,
And I reach to take it,
Then I open my eyes.
I didn’t even know they were closed.
I’m in the powder room again,
And Ashley Aimes is in front of me,
Annoyance on her pretty face,
And we never left this room.
We. Never. Left.
“What is wrong with you? My lord, you need help.”
She stalks away and I struggle to breathe, trying like hell to grasp reality.
What is happening to me?
I do need help.
I need Dare.
Because he was so hurt, and I’m hurting him now, more and more each day as I keep pushing him away.
He didn’t deserve that.
He doesn’t deserve this.
I’m reeling,
I’m reeling.
The room presses down on me, swirling and bending and stifling. I lunge for the door, and barge through the people and to Dare on the veranda.
Ashley is with him now, telling him of my break-down and he turns to me, his beautiful face frozen and afraid.
“Dare… I…”
Tears streak my cheeks and he grabs me, turning his back on Ashley.
“You’re not a monster,” I whisper. “You’re not.”
Without looking back, he leads me away,
Out of the ballroom,
Away from all of the watchful eyes.
“I saw what happened,” I whisper, and I turn into his tuxedo jacket, hiding my face. “Am I crazy? I saw what you did. I know your mom isn’t dead.”
“You’re not crazy,” his words are gentle, and it’s a soft tone I haven’t heard from him in awhile. My walls come crumbling down, and I cry.
The next few minutes are a blur.
I reach for him,
he pulls me close.
His breath is sweet,
his shirt is starchy and smells of rain,
musk,
and man.
His hands are everywhere,
Firm,
Strong,
And perfect.
His lips are full,
Yet