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“YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
All the resolve to be calm and rational Simon had built up on the cab ride over vanished in an instant. It disappeared the second he got below ground and saw Cromfield walking towards him.
“And a good morning to you, too, Mr. Kerrigan.” The man smiled blandly, as unfazed as if Simon had merely come to deliver the morning paper. “I see you came here by taxi. Odd choice.”
Simon ignored the comment. Ignored the fact that Cromfield always seemed to know more about him than he should. Ignored absolutely everything except the immediate problem at hand. “Jacob Decker?” he growled. “How could you do that to me?!”
His voice echoed thunderously in the cavern below, and for the first time a flash of anger shot through Cromfield’s twinkling eyes. “Mr. Decker is one of the foremost psychics of his generation. Ink as advanced as I’ve ever seen. Why would we—”
“Let my friend go! Now!” Simon demanded.
No further preamble was required. No kind of compromise would be made. They were referring to one of his best friends here. In light of present circumstances, this was one of his only friends left. Simon would not leave him to rot in this cursed dungeon. Not for a second more.
“You had no right to take him!” he shouted, literally shaking with anger as the two of them squared off in the cave. “No right!”
Cromfield cocked his head curiously to the side, observing Simon like he’d offered up an interesting philosophic question for debate. “And I had a right to take all those other people?” he asked in that same speculative tone. “You had a right to steal their tatùs? To help me study them, at times torture them? At times...even kill?”
A violent shudder ran through Simon’s body, and he fought the urge to take a step away.
Stay on point, Simon! This is JACOB! Don’t lose focus now!
“And on that note,” Cromfield continued lightly, “what did you really expect, Simon? We’ve been gathering information and ink. Cataloguing research and conducting experiments on the best and the brightest. You went to school with most of them. Did you really expect that they would have nothing to do with our plan?”
Simon couldn’t move. Couldn’t argue. Couldn’t speak.
His two worlds were suddenly crashing together, shattering to pieces with violent collision despite all his best attempts to keep them apart. He could only hope that he would still be able to find himself in the wreckage that followed.
“Take your friend, Mr. Wardell, for instance.” Cromfield gazed at him with that same intense calm as Simon began shaking with rage. “Unparalleled abilities. Take your other friend, the female one. Beth—”
“YOU LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS! LEAVE THEM BOTH OUT OF THIS!”
Cromfield backed away with a sweet smile, nodding as if this reaction was exactly what he’d been expecting when he posed the question. A hard line came up between them for the first time. A limit to what Simon was willing to do. A self-imposed boundary from the man who had forsworn all boundaries.
But Simon couldn’t help it. Couldn’t begin to picture Beth and Tristan down in this dungeon. Couldn’t leave Jacob in here and walk away.
It was like a previously darkened corner of his mind had opened for the first time, shedding sudden light on the obvious truth that lay in front of him. The obvious choice to be made.
They were his family. How did you abandon your family?
You couldn’t. Not for anything. Not ever.
Anger boiled over; protecting his family at any cost burned inside his mind. He glared at Cromfield, clenching and unclenching his fists. “They’re not up for debate. They will NEVER be.” He took a menacing step forward.
Cromfield took a step back. His lips seemed to want to smile, but there was caution in his eyes. He clearly understood Simon meant business. “I’ll take you to see your friend,” he said as he typed in the invisible passcode and the door in the cave gave way. “But first, there’s something I’d very much like you to see.”
Simon followed him silently in the dark. Ears still ringing with his own screams. Mind still reeling from the silent decision he’d just made. He didn’t know exactly what it meant for him yet. He wasn’t sure what it was going to force him to do—or perhaps force him to not do. But that resolve was there nonetheless. Building, hardening, taking tentative shape.
Much to Simon’s surprise, they bypassed the cells altogether and made their way down to the lab. His eyes flickered to the damp stone doors cut into the hallway on either side of him, wondering which one held his friend. But before he could even think to call out to him, the lab opened and he and Cromfield walked silently inside.
“Dr. McAllister?”
The imprisoned scientist looked up from his piles of research. He had grown gaunt in his time beneath ground; the sleepless circles beneath his eyes seemed to have hollowed themselves out a permanent residence. He wasn’t wearing shackles, for perhaps the first time since he’d arrived almost a year ago, but Simon didn’t think he had enough spirit left to try to leave. Just to make sure, Gabriel was perched on a counter across the room. A gun in one hand. The baby in the other.
“Thank you, Gabriel. That will do.” Cromfield never looked at the child when he spoke. It was an odd quirk Simon had noticed his first time at the church. “Take your sister and go.”
As the child hopped off the table and scampered from the room, Simon couldn’t help but turn to Cromfield with a low undertone. “His sister?”
Cromfield glanced back dismissively. “Not by blood, but titles can be powerful. Best to give them both something to latch on to. Emotions are powerful leverage, Simon.” On that unsettling note, he turned back to the scientist with a bright smile. “Doctor, the serum if you please.”
Simon’s mouth fell open in shock as McAllister limped forward and placed a vial with a clear liquid in his outstretched hand. “The memory solution? You—you finished it?”
A part of him was thrilled with the notion, and he found himself almost smiling as he looked down at the syringe in his hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Cromfield was watching him closely.
“Last night,” he answered, waving McAllister away. “In theory, it’s fully operational. All it’s waiting for is a test on a live subject.”
A sudden chill ran up Simon’s arms, although he didn’t quite know why. They had tested worse things, on more people. Chances were, this wouldn’t even be painful. He glanced up warily at Cromfield, but before he could say anything the man swept them both outside.
“But you wanted to see your friend...”
Simon’s fingers closed automatically over the vial as it simultaneously vanished from his mind. “Yes. Take me to him.”
It was a long walk. Jacob was apparently being kept in the darkest reaches of the catacombs, and with each step Simon’s heart grew heavier. Jacob had been there for over a week. Not that it much mattered. Simon had seen enough of the prisoners to know that time ceased to hold much meaning when you could no longer see the sun. Some of them, the ones who had been designated for ‘breeding’ purposes and kept for months, had actually begun to go mad.
Finally, Cromfield came to a stop in front of the last cell. With a calm smile he held up a key, offering it out to Simon.
Simon grabbed it with no ceremony whatsoever and shoved it into the lock, half body-slamming the heavy door to get it open.
For a split second, he paused. Was this some kind of joke? Jacob wasn’t in here.
Then a pile of blankets moved in the corner, and his hand flew up to his mouth. “Jake...?”
Every other thought flew out of Simon’s mind as he raced across the floor.
He didn’t have an explanation for why he was there. He didn’t care.
He didn’t know how exactly to get Jacob out. It didn’t matter at the moment. He’d think of something.
For now, the only thing that mattered was the fact that his friend was there and he was alive.
...If only barely.
“Jacob.” He fell to his knees beside the broken body huddled in the corner, placing a tentative hand on the blanket. “It’s me. It’s Simon.”
With a speed and strength that was encouraging, Jacob jerked away from the touch. His dark, matted hair fell away from his face as he lifted his head for the first time. “Simon?” He looked like he couldn’t believe it. “Is that really—” He broke off with a sudden scream, bringing his hands to his temples as the blanket fell away. Simon jumped back in shock before leaping forward again to steady him.
“What’s going on?!” he yelled back at Cromfield, keeping his eyes locked fearfully on Jacob all the while. “What’s happening to him?!”
It was a truly terrifying sight. One that Simon knew he would remember for the rest of his life. Jacob’s entire body was convulsing, caught in an uninterrupted scream as his fingers clawed desperately at the sides of his face, leaving thick trails of blood in their wake.
But that wasn’t the scariest thing. Not the scream, or the blood, or the way he was shaking.
His eyes had turned white.
Simon gasped as Jacob fell back onto the floor, staring in horror at his friend’s ghostly face.
“What the hell...?!” Simon whirled around to Cromfield, only to see him watching Jacob with an aloof sort of patience. “What are you doing to him?!”
Cromfield stared steadily back. “Teaching.”
A second later, the screaming stopped. Jacob collapsed in a pile on the ground, streams of blood trickling through his hair as he pressed his face against the cold stone.
“Jacob knows he’s not allowed to use his ability,” Cromfield continued calmly. “There will be serious consequences if he does.”
Simon’s body locked up in horror as he turned back to his friend. He had been trying to pry something out of his head, fingers clawing desperately against his skin. His visions.
“Jake...” Simon reached out to him again before realizing he was still clutching the brainwashing syringe in his hand. He quickly set it aside and helped Jacob to a delicate sitting position. Just a cursory look told him that his friend didn’t have much time left in this place. One way or another.
Most people broke within a few days. Succumbed to the will of forces beyond their control in an effort to save whatever semblance of sanity and humanity they had left. The punishments would lessen over time, and they would drift painfully through whatever experiments Simon and Cromfield set out for them without so much as a sound; hollow shells of their former selves.
Jacob wasn’t like that.
There was still fight left in Jacob. A will to escape. To fight. To defy. A single spark, perhaps, but he was clinging to it with everything he had left.
...and it was almost killing him.
“It’s okay,” Simon murmured helplessly. “It’s okay. I’m going to get you out of here.”
Jacob lifted his eyes painfully to Simon’s face, searching it all over like he was trying to determine whether or not it was real. “What are,” he broke off in a fit of coughing, bowing his head once more to the floor, “what are you doing here?”
His skin was as white as bone, his body was wasted from lack of food, and the stains of blood on the sides of his face made him look like something out of a nightmare. The only thing that remained the same were his eyes. Simon would recognize those dark, knowing eyes anywhere.
“I...uh...I just...”
But he trailed off to nothing, frozen stiff with shock and fear.
What am I supposed to say? That I’m a part of all this? That I do this on a regular basis to other people so I can experiment with their powers? I just never thought it would be you?
In an act of desperation, he turned around to look at Cromfield instead. The man was staring down at him, intently watching his every move.
“You want him to be released?” Cromfield asked softly. Simon’s heart leapt in his chest and he nodded. But Cromfield wasn’t finished. “Knowing what he knows?”
It was like someone poured cold water down his spine. Simon turned back to Jacob in horror as he realized the inescapable truth.
Jacob was the first person to cross between both of Simon’s worlds. Jacob was that very collision that threatened to tear apart everything Simon loved in both.
If released...Jacob would be his downfall.
A crushing weight descended onto Simon’s shoulders, bowing his head with the force of it.
“Why did you bring me here?” he whispered. A fleeting thought passed... Simon had demanded to see his friend. “Why did you let him see me?”
It was a throwaway question, one mumbled only out of shock. He had a very good idea why Cromfield had consented to let him see Jacob. In fact, he had a very good idea why Jacob had been abducted and brought here in the first place.
Because now Simon had gone too far. Now, there was no going back.
...or was there?
With sudden illumination, he gazed down at the syringe lying on the floor. A simple shot could change everything. Could fix it, even. Jacob wouldn’t remember. He could be set free.
His fingers closed around the vial, and in his periphery he saw Cromfield smile.
“Simon?”
Simon raised his head guiltily. Jacob had been watching everything with near-delirious confusion. His chest rose and fell with painful, broken breaths as his eyes darted between Simon and Cromfield, growing more and more disoriented with every pass.
“Simon, what’s he talking about?” Jacob angled himself automatically behind his friend as he cringed against the cold stone. “What’s going on?”
It looked like he was making a great effort to speak. A great effort to even keep his eyes open. But open they were. And they were seeing everything.
His hand reached out and fastened on the end of Simon’s cloak, trembling, but holding on for all his worth. He was counting on Simon to protect him. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind.
And I will protect you. Simon’s heart locked down with a shudder. This...this is the only way.
With shaking hands he pulled off the cap on the needle, flashing Jacob a painful smile at the same time. “It’s going to be okay, Jake. I’m going to get you out of here. But first I...I have to make you forget.”
“Forget?” Jacob’s face blanched as he glanced down at the needle. His eyes began to whiten again—searching for the truth—but he remembered himself at the last second and flinched back into the wall. “What do you mean? Forget? Forget what? Simon, what’s going on?”
Simon couldn’t bring himself to look his friend in the eye. He just stared down at the vial in his hand, mind reeling with the task that lay ahead of him. “It’s the only way...the only way he’ll let you go.”
His eyes locked onto Jacob’s hand still clutched around his coat. Would that be the best place to do it? One little prick of the needle, and both of their problems would go away. Of course, that wouldn’t be the only thing Jacob would lose...
As if his body sensed a danger his mind could not, Jacob retracted his hand. He sat staring at Simon with scared, panicked eyes. “Simon, let’s just get out of here! Take his ability, and let’s...”
He trailed off suddenly, looking down at his arm.
Simon had discreetly rolled up his sleeve and was holding onto him, flicking the syringe with his finger to remove any air.
“What are you...”
It suddenly clicked. The reason Simon had walked in here of his own volition. The reason Cromfield had asked him about the release. What Simon meant when he said forget.
“NO!” Jacob’s feet scrambled weakly against the floor as he tried to get away, wrenching his arm free from Simon. “You can’t—”
“Jacob, it’s the only way.” For the second time that day, Simon felt like his chest was tearing into a million pieces. “He’ll kill you otherwise.”
He reached for Jacob’s arm again but Jacob twisted away, staring up at Simon in pure horror as his face turned even more impossibly pale. “Simon...please. Please—don’t. It’s who I am, my memories. I can’t...” He let out a broken gasp as Simon moved steadily forward, his voice rising in panic. “Please! I won’t tell anyone! I swear! Just don’t—”
Simon shook his head slowly, finally forcing himself to meet his friend’s eyes. “Jake, you can’t stay here—you’ll die. And we can’t let you out, knowing what you know.”
There it was.
We.
He’d finally admitted it.
Without another word, he reached again for Jacob’s arm.
Except Jacob kicked him in the chest.
“You BASTARD! Don’t you dare touch me!” The sudden flood of adrenaline had given Jacob new strength, and he shakily pulled himself to his feet. “Of course you had something to do with this, you son of a bitch! I swear to you, Simon, if you do this, I’ll—”
“You won’t remember,” Simon said simply.
It was the kick, more than anything, that had made up his mind. Jacob knew how to fight; in fact, he was damn good at it. He could break a man’s chest with a kick like that.
But that kick...was delivered with the strength and accuracy of a child.
His friend didn’t have much time left. His mind was strong, but his body was failing. He was either getting out of here without a memory of the place, or he wasn’t getting out at all.
Simon had to save his friend. He didn’t have a choice. He couldn’t right his wrongs, but this... this he could stop.
“I’m sorry,” Simon said with all the sincerity he could muster. He outpaced Jacob easily and took him once more by the arm, firm in his decision. “Jacob, I’m so, so sorry.”
Just like that, Jacob saw his one chance vanish before his eyes. He knew Simon. Knew how to read his voices. Knew that there was nothing left he could do.
But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t try...
“Please...” he whimpered, but made no move to struggle as Simon slowly lifted his arm, squeezing it slightly to produce a vein. “Lili—you met Lili, right, Simon? Please, please don’t make me forget her.”
Simon hesitated, and made the extreme mistake of looking into Jacob’s eyes. What he saw there burned forever into his mind. A permanent torture he would never be able to escape.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered again.
Then he stabbed him. They both watched in total silence as the needle slipped under his skin, the serum emptying out in his veins.
It was at this moment that Cromfield took a step forward himself, interested to see the results.
For a moment, nothing happened.
All three of them seemed to be holding their breath as they waited for some sort of sign.
Then Jacob shuddered and fell back towards the wall. Simon caught him in an instant and lowered him down slowly, trying not to focus on the way his skin kept flashing hot and cold. Would the serum kill him?
“You’ll be okay,” Simon told Jacob again and again. He kept his voice low and calm, almost monotone. Like he was reading a script. “You’ll be okay, and in about ten minutes I’m going to be driving you home. Dr. Stanton will fix you up. You won’t remember a thing. And everything is going to be—
There was a sharp crack as Jacob’s fist swung into his nose.
Nothing weak about that one. Simon felt as the bone snapped in two, sending a river of blood trickling down his chin. He stared up in shock only to see Jacob glaring right back at him, his dark eyes burning holes in Simon’s skin.
“I will always remember. And I will never forgive you.”
* * *
SIMON LEFT JACOB ON the floor of his cell, screaming in pain as his mind tried to save itself with yet another vision of escape. He left without daring to look back. Without daring to say goodbye. His mind was fixed on one thing and one thing only...
I’ve got to get out of here.
“Simon!” Cromfield called as he hurried after him down the hall. “Simon, I’m sorry that didn’t work out the way you wanted. We’ll try again. McAllister will get the serum right, and your friend will be free to—”
“He’s not my friend,” Simon replied robotically. “He wants me dead. I deserve it. I don’t deserve to call myself his friend.” He pushed the door open. “No matter what he remembers.”
Cromfield caught the stone before it could swing shut. “You’re leaving. I can see that, and after what just happened it’s not so surprising. But the question, Simon, is this...are you ever coming back?”
Simon’s feet stopped moving as he considered the question. But for once, all of his usual rationalizations and ethical maneuvers fell along the wayside. None of them measured up. None of them could erase what he’d just seen.
Was he coming back?
“No. I’m not.”
There was nothing but silence behind him and he slowly turned around, levelling Cromfield with his eyes. For once the man wasn’t smiling, but he didn’t seem particularly upset either. More like he had been waiting for this piece of the puzzle to fall into place.
“I’ll give you two days,” Simon continued. “Leave this place. Your test subjects, your research. I don’t care what happens, take it with you. But leave Jacob behind.”
Again, Cromfield said nothing. He merely stared at Simon with that same, unshakable calm.
“So you’ve decided then,” he finally said. “You’ve made up your mind.”
Simon pulled in a sharp breath, and nodded.
Yes. He had. He was leaving this place once and for all. Nothing could stop him.
Without another word he turned around and headed up the stone stairs, back into the outside world. The light in his eyes, the darkness at his back.
* * *
THERE WAS NO HESITATION in Simon’s mind as he hopped in a cab and headed back across London. Not a single doubt as to his destination.
A weight had lifted. A door had opened. A new life was about to begin.
And he wasn’t going to waste another second to begin living it...
“Beth!”
He pounded on the door to her shared apartment with Jennifer, feeling lighter and lighter with each passing second, abruptly relieved he’d remembered to wipe away the blood.
Jacob would be set free. Cromfield would disappear. And this darkness that had been chasing him? Well, he happened to have the perfect remedy to that right here.
“Simon?”
The door pulled open and she stared at him in surprise. Just behind her, Jennifer was sitting at the dining room table. There were two mugs of tea sitting on the placemats between them, and after his initial second of excitement had passed, Simon realized they had been in the middle of some sort of deep discussion.
A second after that, he realized Beth was in tears.
“Honey,” all his pre-planned words melted instantly away as he pulled her into his arms, “what’s the matter? What’s wrong?!”
Beth just stood there. Shaking. They were the same kind of tears she’d had when he found her in the park that night. The kind that came and went at will, with her having no control over them whatsoever. For a second she shook her head, but Jennifer cleared her throat sharply behind them and she gazed up at Simon instead, with a sigh.
“Simon...I have to tell you something...”
Jennifer vanished without another word, giving them privacy, and Simon braced himself where he stood.
What else could possibly happen today? How much more could he possibly take? Had Tristan been here first? Did Beth know he was working with Cromfield? Did—
“I’m pregnant.”
...I have to be dreaming.
“Whoa—Simon!”
Beth caught him in her arms as he sank abruptly to the floor. Not in a faint, per se. More in a move to prevent a faint. To heed his buckling legs before they gave out entirely.
“Simon, are you okay? Sweetie?”
He stared up into her sparkling blue eyes. While she had just admitted that her entire world had turned abruptly upside-down, it was him she was concerned for. Her fingers stroked lightly down the sides of his face while she gazed deeply into his eyes.
Because she loved him.
Because he loved her.
“Marry me.”
It took a second for the words to hit home. When they finally did, Beth simply shook her head quickly back and forth, like she was trying to shake it back into the present. “I’m sorry...what?!”
“Marry me.”
Each time Simon said the words, he felt stronger. He pulled himself up to his feet, grabbing her hands and taking her right along with him. He was a man who examined every possible angle before making a move. A man who strategized down to the smallest detail.
But for once, he wasn’t going to follow his head.
He was going to follow his heart.
“Marry me,” he said again, “and I promise I’ll give you the life of your dreams. I will love you every second from now until forever. And you and I will raise this child together. As a family.”
Beth stared back at him as tears began to fill her eyes.
Then he sank onto one knee. “Marry me.” His lips curled up in a twinkling smile. “Beth, I’m just going to keep asking until you say yes. We’re going to be amazing; nothing or nobody will stop us. I love you. Marry me.”
A burst of laughter escaped her lips, followed by a little gasp as she pulled him back to his feet. Those eyes held him for a suspended moment—searching into his very soul—before there was a blur of raven-colored hair and she leapt into his arms. “Yes, Simon Kerrigan. I’ll marry you.”
They shared a long kiss before she pulled back to stare at him, her lovely face shining with the trails of a thousand happy tears.
She grinned, her eyes shining. “I’d marry you yesterday. I’d marry you tomorrow. Hell, I’ll marry you right now.”
A bark of euphoric laughter leapt out of him as he spun her around and around, kissing every spare inch of skin he could find. They twirled around so fast that she grabbed onto his shoulders with a little giggling shriek, holding on for dear life until he anchored them back to earth.
“That’s good to hear,” he set her down and kissed her again catching her face between both his hands, “because right now is kind of exactly what I had in mind...”
* * *
THEY PICKED UP A DRESS on the way. The flowers were from the neighborhood park. Jennifer had been swept along as a maid-of-honor and a witness if need be. Things were moving so fast that Simon realized he didn’t even have a destination past the London courthouse. It wasn’t until he turned down a familiar street that he realized he had a better alternative in mind.
“What is this place?” Beth asked as she gazed out the window. “It’s beautiful.”
Simon took her hand as he helped her out of the car.
He wouldn’t call it beautiful. He couldn’t, anymore. Not after what he’d seen. But in a way, it was the only place that he could imagine doing something like this. Taking this kind of step.
What better place to start your new life than the resting place of the old?
“It’s called—”
“St. Stephen’s,” Jennifer finished suddenly. She shot Simon a strange look before gazing back up at the church in alarm. “You’re sure you...you want to do it here?”
Simon couldn’t see anything past Beth. Couldn’t focus his mind on anything past her beautiful, beaming face. The love of his life. The light to his darkness.
The mother of his child.
“Yes,” he murmured, gazing down into her eyes, “right here. Right now. I don’t want to wait another second.”
Without another word, the three of them headed into the sanctuary. Father Amos was there, as Simon had predicted he’d be, lighting the last of the long, taper candles.
“Father,” he called as he walked towards him, pulling Beth by the hand.
“Simon?” Amos looked up in surprise. A surprise that melted into a warm smile when he gazed down at the trio of teenagers in front of him. “What a lovely surprise. I wasn’t expecting—”
“Father, I need you to do me a favor,” Simon said seriously, his hand tightening in Beth’s as he stared intently into the priest’s eyes. “And it’s kind of a big one...”
It was like walking through a dream.
The way Beth’s dress swished back and forth as she walked slowly up the aisle. The most beautiful bride in the world, beaming both inside and out. The way the Father’s soft, melodic voice took them through the paces, murmuring words that Simon never heard and would never remember as he stared down into her eyes. The way her skin felt as he slipped on a ring—the same one she’d given him for Christmas, to be replaced later.
The way her kiss anchored him, binding him to this bright new life with a strength and love and desire he had never before imagined.
They pulled away in silence, each one staring at the other. Each one overwhelmed with the magnitude of what they’d just done.
Mr. and Mrs. Simon Kerrigan...together, for the first time.
But such happiness is never meant to last...
It wasn’t until the door burst open that either of them looked up from their trance. The smiles were still lingering on their faces as the tranquil sanctuary filled suddenly with a host of armed guards.
As they looked on in shock Philip Keene walked through the center, lifting a paper in the air with a heavy heart.
“What’s going on?” Simon asked breathlessly, clutching Beth tighter against his chest as he gazed around in shock. Father Amos crossed himself behind them as Jennifer melted noiselessly away between the ranks of guards. “Keene, what—”
“I’m sorry, Simon.”
Then he raised his hands and the scores of guards descended, ripping Simon and Beth away from each other as she was whisked away, and he was placed in chains.
“Simon Kerrigan, you’re under arrest.”
Simon fell to his knees, pushed by some unseen guard behind him.
“On what charge?!” he demanded, yelling for all his worth. From the corner of his eye, he could have sworn he saw the figure of another man standing up on the balcony. A man who melted away into the shadows with a hint of a smile. “Why are you arresting me?!”
The cars were waiting outside, and in the distance Simon could hear the sirens of more on the way. Keene looked at him sadly as he was hoisted back to his feet. Their eyes met for a split second before he shook his head and headed back for the door.
“For the murder of your parents.”
THE END
Lost in the Darkness
