“Yes, I’m sure. You just go and settle into your new room. We moved all your stuff from your old room. Well, everything that survived the move. We had to replace a lot of stuff.”

“Oh…” I’m not sure what to say. I wasn’t particularly attached to my old furniture, but with all these sudden changes, I was kind of looking forward to my familiar bed. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“We didn’t want your moldy old furniture in our house—”

“Nixon!” James snaps at his son. “Stop being so rude.”

“What? It’s true.” He shrugs, completely unapologetic. “Maybe we can replace some of her clothes too?” He looks down at my shirt in disgust.

“We could go clothes shopping this weekend,” my mom interjects. “Girls’ day?”

“Sure.” I force a smile. Anything to get away from these two assholes.

“Perfect! Do you want me to show you to your room?”

“We’re going up anyway,” Colt offers. “We’ll show you where your room is.”

“I’m sure I can find it myself.” Grabbing my backpack off the floor, I stand up, looking for a way to escape this place.

“It’s upstairs, the last one at the end of the hallway,” James explains.

He has barely finished giving me directions when I start speed walking out of the dining room and up the stairs without looking back.

Only when I’m on the second floor, and I don’t hear anyone coming after me, do I sigh in relief.

“Last one at the end of the hallway…” But he didn’t say which one. The staircase leads into a wall with hallways on either side. I try my luck on the left side.

As I walked down the hall, I count the doors, wondering whose room is behind each one. I pass five before I get to the sixth and last door. If I took the correct turn, this should be my room.

Lifting my hand, I reach for the doorknob. My index finger brushes over the cool brass, the small hairs on the back of my neck lift, and a shiver runs down my spine.

“Wrong room, love bug,” Nix whispers behind me.

I spin around so fast that I lose my footing and stumble backward until my back hits the wall. Nix takes one large step toward me, eating up the distance between us.