My heart stopped beating for a few seconds. “Felix, how could I have possibly known? We were kids, and thought her granny just made up those stories to scare us.” I shook my head, not understanding his fury. “Why would I be trapped in here with you if I had known?”

“You knew!” he bellowed. “You damn well had to have known. You just said her grandmother used to tell you stories. How could you not have known?”

I glared at him, watching his dark eyes flash with anger. “I. Didn’t. Know.”

He stalked over to me, standing a breath away, looking like he wanted to shake me or strangle me. Luther pulled me back against him, and Felix shook his head, storming off to his secret room without a second look back.

We all watched as he slammed the door behind him, the lock clicking with a finality. I looked back at Brynn through the cloudy window. “I’m sorry,” she said, her lips trembling.

“It’s not your fault. None of this is.” I pressed my hand against the glass again, and waited for her to press her hand against the other side. I needed to reassure myself as much as her.

“I’m going to fix this, Sav. I’m going to go right to my granny and see what the hell we can do.” Her eyes were clear, serious with their intent. “I’m going to get you out here.”

“I love you,” I whispered, tears clouding my eyes. What had I done without her for all these months? “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Brynn pulled away from the window, brushing her wet hands off on her jeans. “I’m going to see Granny the minute I leave here. I need you to do something for me though.”

I nodded. “Anything.”

“Don’t give up. Not yet. Not ever.” And with those parting words, she blew me a kiss and got into her car. It took far less time for her to escape the driveway than it had for her to find her way towards us.

When her taillights disappeared, I sank to the floor, cradling my head in my hands, and sobbed. Luther joined me on the cold floor, tucking me against his chest.

“Shh…” he reassured. “Come on, sweetheart. Don’t be sad. It’ll be okay.”

I let him hold me. But I didn’t respond, because I didn’t know how to explain to him I wasn’t crying because I was sad. I was crying because for the first time since I had stepped foot inside the house, I had hope.

19. Felix

All I saw was red.
Everything I came in contact with, I wanted to break. I wanted to hurt someone. I wanted to do a thousand things I couldn’t do, and knowing I couldn’t do any of it made me even more angry.