Bella’s father hangs up the phone as her mother paces back and forth.
“Well,” he says, “that was a psychologist named Dr. Shultz—”
“Schultz,” I correct. “I know him. I suggested that she go to him.”
Her mother frowns, turning toward her husband. “So, she’s going to therapy without telling us, too? Secret boyfriends, secret psychologists? What else is she hiding?”
“Listen,” Mr. Nova grabs his wife by the shoulders so that she’ll stop pacing, “she left his office just a few hours ago. He had a fit. He thinks he passed out or had a seizure, and Bella just left him there.”
“She was probably having flashbacks from—” Mrs. Nova looks over at me, and then back at Mr. Nova. “You know.”
“Well, she told him she was having auditory and visual hallucinations. He was just getting ready to call us, ready to call an ambulance. He highly recommends that we institutionalize her for a little bit, at least for the time being until she feels better.”
“Auditory hallucinations? Visual hallucinations?” Again, Mrs. Nova looks away from her husband, then back at me, then back at her husband. “Can I talk to you in the other room, dear?”
I get the hint.
“I’m about to head home,” I tell them. “I just thought you all should know that this Draven guy is… not good. He’s not good at all. I can’t really explain to you how not good he is. And Bella has been seeing him, and I’m scared, and I have… I feel like I’m going crazy. And I just thought you guys could help. I’m worried for her.”
Mrs. Nova squints her eyes and tightens her lips together in a flat line. “What did you see, Daven?”
“What?” I ask, my voice a little shaky. I don’t know what I saw. I’m confused about what I saw, of course. Maybe I saw him having a video call with his sister, and the run-in with the car just jumbled all of my memories. What I thought I saw is much stranger than what makes sense. I trace the stitch above my eyebrow that I got at urgent care.
“You saw something,” Mrs. Nova says, coming toward where I’m sitting at their breakfast bar. “Tell me what you saw.”
“I don’t know what I saw.” I shrug, “I can’t be sure. I hit my head pretty bad when I collided with the car.”
But she just shakes her head. “I don’t care if you sound crazy, Daven. Tell me what you think you saw.”
I sigh.
“I think I saw Draven talking to his little sister or something.”
“How?”
I let out a bigger sigh. “Via… creek water.”
“Oh, God,” Mr. Nova puts his hand on his chest, “you don’t think…”
“And what did they talk about?” Mrs. Nova puts her hand out in front of her husband’s face, indicating that he needs to shut his mouth.
“Hell,” I whisper.
“Hell?”
“I think Hell,” I repeat, “or the Underworld. I’m sorry, Mrs. Nova. I’m just tired, and my mom is freaking out about the concussion, and I feel like I was just having weird dreams—”
“Give him a ride,” Mrs. Nova demands her husband, “and start looking for—”
“Mom?” Someone’s calling from the outside. The front door swings open, and here comes Bella, out of breath, eyes swollen with tears again. “Daven?”
“Bella!” I stand up, arms outstretched as I move toward her. She flinches away.
“Take him home, now,” Mrs. Nova repeats.
Bella’s father grabs his car keys and gives his daughter a kiss on the head before heading toward the front door. I follow. Bella won’t even look at me.
“Bella, I know you’re mad at me,” I whisper to her, “but all of this will make sense at school tomorrow. I got Stephanie to admit what she did, and they’ll probably suspend her and—”
Bella finally looks at me, eyes wide, and she’s about to say something when Mrs. Nova takes her under her arm and begins to lead her away. “Sorry, Daven. We have bigger things to worry about.”