“Oh shit,” Griz said.
She shrugged. “We should have known. But my parents hid the fact that Brent killed Daniel. It wasn’t until I was older that I understood what he’d done.”
They'd stepped into the kitchen, and Elowen narrowed her gaze. "Who is Daniel?"
Calla sighed. “I guess that didn’t come up. I’ll tell you over breakfast.”
“Sure, get some coffee if you like, and I have butter and syrup on the table.”
She put sugar and milk into a mug and poured in coffee. It tasted good, and she moved to the table. As she spooned scrambled eggs onto her plate, she started talking about her family.
"My parents wanted a big family. Abigail was the oldest, and then Brent was born. And since my name starts with a C, I was third. Then came Daniel two years later. I don't remember much. I was a toddler."
“Totally understandable,” Elowen said.
She poured syrup onto his pancakes and took a bite. “These are great.”
“Thank you,” Elowen said.
“I guess I was close to three years old when Daniel died. He’d been crying a lot because he’d gotten sick. Then he was gone. He died in his sleep, or that’s the story my parents told the police. It was ruled a sudden infant death case.”
“That’s awful,” Elowen said.
Griz set down his mug. “I’m sorry your brother died.”
She nodded. “It was horrible. But it was made so much worse when Abigail filled in the rest of the story for me when I was older, and honestly, I didn’t really understand until after my parents were dead.”
“You’ve lived through some stuff,” Griz said.
She nodded. "Yeah. Some stuff. So apparently, my mom found Brent in Daniel's crib holding a pillow. My mom and dad had been exhausted and hadn't woken up when he started crying. Brent denied covering Daniel's face with the pillow, but after Daniel died, my parents made me and Abigail sleep in their room, and we always slept with the door locked. We had to sleep in their room for years."
Elowen reached across the table and took her hand, squeezing. “That is horrible. So your parents suspected that Brent was dangerous.”
“I guess so. Though they hid the fact from the police. They never told the cops that Brent had been in the crib with the pillow. Brent could have gotten help. He killed my parents when I was seventeen and buried them on our property. I know the police will eventually find their graves.”
“The amount of shit you went through has to hurt. Have you thought about seeing a psychologist?” Elowen asked.
“I don’t really know how to go about that.”
"There are some online psychologists, so you don't have to go for in-person visits," Elowen said.
“That would be good. But how much would something like that cost? I don’t have any money.”
“We’re in contact with a lot of people through Griz being in the Navy. We’ve raised some money, so you’ll have access to something.”
“Oh, you all didn’t have to do that.”
“We wanted to. Not everyone who gave has been through trauma, but many of us have. We understand how devastating it can be when life goes sideways. Also, once your parents are declared dead, there could be insurance, and maybe other money.”
She took another bite as she mulled over the information. “I don’t really know how to deal with money. I was seventeen whenBrent locked me up, but that was a long time ago. I’m sorry, but I’m going to need a lot of help.”
“We’re happy to help you,” Griz said.
Elowen nodded. “Yes, we want to help.”
She pushed her eggs around on the plate. “I don’t know what to say.”
"You don't have to say anything. We just hope you'll be happy here. With Thario being close by, maybe the two of you can spend some time together."
