Upstairs, the hall was dark, and no light showed under Keme’s door.
I knocked softly.“Keme?You in there?”
No answer.
I knocked again.“Hey, I’m sorry about missing your competition.I know it was important, and I messed up majorly by not being there.I want to apologize if you’ll let me.”
Nothing.
“I totally get that you need some time and you don’t want to see me right now,” I said.I pressed my fingertips to my chest and tried to follow my breathing.I kept my voice as easy as I could.“So, I’m going to try to apologize later.But if you could give me a sign, you know, that you heard me, and you’ll eventually forgive me, even if it means I have to grovel for the next hundred years, because believe it or not, this is doing somecrazystuff to my anxiety.”Pause here for an absolutelyinsanelaugh.But still nothing.“Okay.Right.Going to go now.Leaving now.And…goodbye.”
Yes, not my finest moment.I’m fully aware.
(I also did this super weird little bow when I said goodbye.I wasn’t going to tell you because it was so bonkers, but I told you anyway, so now you know.)
Ideally, this would be when I slunk into my room and disappeared forever, hopefully into some sort of enchanted wardrobe full of animals who would solve my life problems and feed me English desserts.But since I was an adult, and I actually didn’t like Turkish delight all that much, I decided to slink in a different direction, and I made my way into Vivienne’s study.
I hardly ever went into Vivienne’s study.The same went for the massive bedroom that had once been hers.I’d lived here for over two years.The house was legally mine.But they still felt too much like Vivienne’s—like she might come back and claim them again.That wasn’t going to happen now, a part of me recognized, but it would take a while before the difference actually felt, you know, real.
When I stepped through the door, the sound of the ocean was louder—closer.Cold air brushed my face.Even though the lights were off, the study was brighter than the hallway.Much brighter.The last bit of daylight funneled in through the doors to the sleeping porch.
Which stood open.
And they were never open.
I reached for the light switch.I was on autopilot, and my brain hadn’t caught up to my body.
The doors to the porch wereopen.Drawers hung free from the desk.Papers lay everywhere.
Something dropped in front of my face, a flutter of movement.
And then the cord snapped tight around my neck.
Chapter 14
The cord bit into my neck and cut off my air.
I lunged forward, trying to break free, but the movement was only instinct.The cord—the garrote—was too strong, and whoever was holding it was strong too.They didn’t stumble.I couldn’t pull them off balance.Instead, they yanked me back toward them and kicked my feet out from under me.
I went down, and I hit the floor hard.
For a moment, the cord slackened around my throat.I rasped for air.My throat burned, but I tried to call out—and couldn’t.I blinked, and the room swam around me.The desk was right in front of me.I crawled toward the kneehole.The sound came of the door shutting.
Hands grabbed my legs and dragged me away from the desk.I kicked and made contact with flesh.My attacker grunted, but they didn’t let go.They kept dragging me out from under the desk, ignoring my flailing legs.
The door handle rattled.
My attacker planted a knee between my shoulder blades, pinning me to the floor, and got hold of the garrote again.
Someone tried the door again, and then a surly teenage boy called, “What are you doing in there?”
I tried to answer, but the garrote was too tight.Black spots danced in front of my vision.I clawed at the cord, but I couldn’t get my fingers under it.
“Why are you so weird?”Keme said.But then, after a moment, “Are you okay?”
Something strobed inside my head.Flashes of bright and dark.
It wasn’t even a thought.It was desperation.
