Unlocked. Fully charged.
The date stares back at me.
December 25th. 12:04 PM.
I sink onto the edge of a dining room chair that's actually by the table where it should be, instead of supporting my blanket fort.
He drugged me.
That's when I see what else is on the counter.
A plate of cookies.
Sugar cookies. The kind shaped like snowmen and Christmas trees. Frosted. White icing with red and green sprinkles.
One has a bite missing. A perfect half-moon carved out of the snowman's head.
Santa was here.
The thought lands before I can stop it. Childish. Stupid.
But I'm six years old again. Standing in my pajamas in the kitchen doorway, staring at the plate Daddy and I put out the night before with a glass of milk.
"See, Lettie-bug?" Daddy's voice, warm and conspiratorial. "Look!" He holds up the cookie with a bite taken out. Points to the glass of milk, half empty. "Told you he'd come."
I believed him. God, I believed him so hard.
My chest tightens.
I'm crying.
Why the fuck am I crying?
I press my palms against my eyes. Force myself to breathe. He's been dead for fourteen years, Scarletta. Fourteen fucking years.Get a goddamned grip!
I need to get over this. I need to?—
Stop.
I drop my hands. Wipe my face with the back of my wrist.
There's a present next to the plate.
Small. Wrapped in matte black paper with a silver ribbon.
Ring-sized.
My stomach flips.
No. No way.
I pick it up with shaking hands.
My mind is spinning. The masked man. The sex. The blackouts. The syringe. He drugged me and now there's a fuckingpresenton my counter and I don't know if I'm supposed to be terrified or?—
I yank the ribbon off. The box opens with a soft creak. Not a ring.
An SD card. Black. Tiny.
