Remember…
The only difference between bright white and pitch black is illumination…
Landon
TWELVE YEARS AGO
The house had finally gone quiet.
No more screams.
I couldn’t stand it when they screamed.
He’d promised there wouldn’t be any tonight. Dad promised. But our family’s work was never done.
We needed to prove our loyalty.
We needed to rid the Camelot Society of anyone who might betray it.
They were always watching. Always testing us. Waiting for us to fail them.
I rocked back and forth in the dark. Arms banded around my knees, I squeezed my legs so tightly. Like it might stop the madness, quiet the chaos inside me every time I heard them screaming.
My closet door opened, its slow creak popping my head up.
But the body in the doorway wasn’t big enough to be him. And the cat ears poking up from the shadows calmed me further.
“Nana?”
“Hi, little brother.” She waited in the doorway, giving me space. “Want some company?”
I sniffled, wiping my nose on my sleeve. I wanted to be brave in front of my big sister. I wanted her to be proud of me.
“Can I pet Oscar?”
“He would love that,” she whispered.
She was fibbing. Oscar didn’t like anyone petting him. When he wanted touches, he rubbed himself on me until he’d had his fill, and then he ran off. If I tried to go after him, he hissed at me.
He was a grumpy cat.
Nana knew that.
But she knew I loved him, anyway. And I wouldn’t have to admit I was scared if she found me with Oscar in her arms.
That was why I loved her.
She noticed things about me. Things no one else cared about except her.
And Kingston.
Taking a seat beside me, she left a sliver of space between her body and mine. I brushed my shoulder against hers. Our secret signal.
Nana leaned in and snuggled closer, looping an arm around my shoulder while her hand stroked down Oscar’s back. As she pulled me in, her soft curls brushed my cheek. They fell around her face like silk ribbons.
The ones Mama always put in her hair.
Her voice trembled. “It’s happening more often, isn’t it?”
