“What?”

It was Jack’s startled voice that brought me out of my deep slumber. It was bright and I squinted.

He had his phone against his ear, frowning.

“Where?”

He got up and pulled on the sweats that were lying on the floor.

“Don’t touch anything, I’m on my way.”

Bewildered I sat up, still trying to get my bearings.

“We need to go.” He instructed me but my mind was still fuzzy with sleep.

I was still half asleep. “Where?”

“I need to get home.”

I was still trying to figure out what was going on but Jack was already getting dressed and I was just trying to keep up with him. The ride wasn’t long but he sped all the way to his house. He was anxious, I kept silent unsure of how to deal with him when he was like this. Pulling up abruptly and switching off the truck before he was out.

I opened the car door and followed him. He was already in the house. His parent’s waiting for him, both wearing their dressing gowns.

“You stay here,” he said as he turned back to acknowledge me before he headed up the stairs taking two steps at a time.

I was so confused. I looked to his mother for answers.

“What happened?” I asked, needing to know what was going on.

She seemed reluctant to say anything.

“We found a note in Alice’s room,” she answered.

A note. Alice’s room. The information began to filter in slowly but it felt like my brain was in delayed in taking the information in.

“It was left by the killer.”

The walls seemed to close in on me. I blinked. Killer. The word echoed in me, forcing out the air in my lungs and I inhaled. It took a few more moments for that to sink in.

The killer. Alice’s room. I wanted to be sick. He had been in her room, where I had been recently. Breathing the same air, looking at the same memories of Alice. He had killed her brutally, taking her life. While I had grieved for the friend I had lost.

“What did the note say?” I found myself asking, feeling like my mind had somehow disconnected from my body and the turmoil.

Jack’s parents shared a look but did not answer. I wasn’t going to get answers from them so I took the stairs. Reaching the landing as Jack exited Alice’s room.

“What did the note say?” I asked, my need for answers growing more urgent with each person’s silence.

He pressed his lips together, like he was contemplating what to tell me.

“What did the note say?” I knew it was going to be bad but I had to know.

He rubbed his forehead, he was stalling.

“What did it say?” No one wanted to give me the answer.

“The note said. Hadley. Silence saved your life. Words will end it.”

My life. The one he hadn’t taken when he could have.

I was shaken. It was a threat. A real one. Not one in my mind, not waiting for me in the dark. It was out in the open, a direct threat.

“Jack,” I said his name.

His hands were on me, steading me. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

My eyes searched him, the growing panic in knowing they were only words spoken. If the killer truly wanted to take my life he would.

I began to shake. Jack held me by my arms and leveled his gaze to mine. “Breathe Hadley.”

I tried to inhale and hold it before releasing it. My mind was racing, my heart was beating rapidly in my chest.

“Do you trust me.”

I nodded, feeling like I was spiraling out of control. My whole to the world being untethered and I was free falling, unable to stop.

“I will not let him get you. Do you understand me?” His words were loud and pointed.

I nodded again, wanting to believe that he alone had the power to keep me safe. But the truth was someone that had evaded capture for so long while killing innocent young girls had the power of anonymity. He was the all consuming fear that had taken up so much in life when my only goal had been survival.

“I don’t understand Jack. Why now?”

“You’re remembering.”

I didn’t want any of it. Any of the memories or recollection of that horrific night but I was not in control of what my remembered.

“How?” I asked, feeling like the floor had given way beneath my feet. Jack pulled me into an embrace.

“I don’t know.” He soothed. “But I’ll figure it out.”

There was a hurry of activity when the cops showed up and I sat staring at a cup of tea Jack’s mom had made for me. My mind was numb as I studied the porcelain cup unable to fully comprehend the situation that was surrounding me.

Cops were everywhere. I looked up to see Jack talking to Beth. I knew logically why he was interacting with her but there was that part of me that didn’t like how close they were standing. I was jealous. It was plain and simple. Even in a situation like this, I could not shut out my feelings.

He lifted his eyes across the room and meshed with mine. His gaze sent my stomach into a fizzle. Even with everything going on, I could not deny my feelings or attraction to him.

The sound of the chair scraping against the floor pulled my attention to Jack’s mom who sat down beside me.I made a point of taking a sip of the cold tea so I didn’t feel awkward.

“How are you holding up?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Was there a right way to cope with any of this? Everything felt more intense. The fear, the grief, the pain. It was acute.

“I know this might not be the best time…” she began.

I looked to her, giving her my attention. While I had understood her and Jack’s father’s feelings about losing Alice while I had survived practically unscathed it didn’t make it all right.

“We were so grief stricken…” She swallowed the rising emotion, visibly upset.

I reached out to cover her hand with mine. I understood that pain to some degree although I could not fully comprehend a parents’ pain at losing their child. Her eyes watered and I held her hand a little tighter trying to reign in the same emotion in me.

“But we shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

It was the closest thing to an apology I had ever received from them. I watched as she took sighed.

“We were in so deep we could not see things from your side or see what you had lost.”

I breathed through the rising grief.

“She loved you so much.” She paused. “You brought so much to her life. There wasn’t a part of it that didn’t include you. Where there was one, there was the other.”

We had been inseparable in life. The pain of losing her and kept me from revisiting past memories that included Alice. It had been too painful and it was easier to avoid.

“Losing her was the worst day of my life and I know it was so hard for you. But I’m glad she had you with her…you know…when she…” She couldn’t finish but I understood.

To a normal person, it was probably a warped thing to say but I understood.

“Jack was so lost without her,” she continued. “He felt so responsible but there was no way he could have known what was going to happen that night.”

I looked over to look for Jack but he was no longer standing by the front entrance with Beth.

“He focussed everything on the man who took his sister, you know.”

I didn’t know if she had any idea how committed he was. If she saw the room with all the information, she would.

“I feared he would lose himself in it but…” she looked to me. “There is a light in him when you’re around.”

She shook her head. “At first I didn’t see it, we were all concerned that your closeness was unhealthy, stopping you from moving onto some sort of normality.”

She sighed. “But I see it now.”

I frowned, unsure of what she was talking about.

“I might not understand it but he needs you.” Then she made a point to grip my hand. “Like you need him.”