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“No idea, but she’s emotionless. I’m hoping we can get her to feel something, maybe snapping her out of this state.” I shrug.
Dax lays her down on her side, still continuing to rub her back to keep contact with her. Colton turns on his laptop and sets up a slideshow of her pictures. He places it in front of her on the table and hits play.
The computer flashes through pictures of her and her mom, some with both her parents, some with friends. But the ones with her mom are when we start to notice a reaction.
Tears start to form in the corner of her eyes.
“Mom,” she whispers. The tears start to fall more, and then she lets out a painful sob. “No! Mom! Why?”
I rush over to her and drop down in front of her. For the first time in days, she’s not staring off into space.
“Hey, baby. Hey, shh. Just let it out. Let it all out. We are right here for you.” I wipe some of the tears out of her eyes.
“She’s gone. He’s gone. I’m alone,” she says through her tears. “Why did they do this to me?”
I lean in and kiss her forehead. “You’re not alone. You have us.”
“This isn’t real. What’s even real anymore?” She’s starting to lose it again. She’s so confused, so lost.
“We are real.” I lean in and kiss her lips. “You feel that?” She nods. “That’s real. This is real.”
“But you wanted me gone. How do I know you aren’t sending me the messages?” Her mind starts to become clearer with each sentence. The tears are starting to dry up, and her voice has a little more fight in her. “How do I know this isn’t another trick? To get me to leave?”
I shake my head. “It’s not us. I swear, Red, it’s not us. We don’t know who’s doing that. We have some ideas, but it’s not us.”
“Why did you want me gone?” She sits up slowly, wiping traces of her sadness way.
My eyes flick towards Daxon, and I’m not sure how we approach this.
“You were an outsider.” Daxon looks between Colt and me. “And you were accepted on odd circumstances. We weren’t sure what to make of you.”
“I don’t know what to think of anything anymore,” she whispers.
I shift to sit down next to her, and I wrap my arm around her shoulder. She stiffens at first but then relaxes into me. “How about you go lay down? I think you need to sleep some of this off.”
She nods, and we both stand. I bend down, tucking my arm under her knees and lifting her up. Cradling her against my chest. I bring her into Daxon’s room, since it’s the most familiar. Colton pulls back the covers as Daxon adjusts the pillows for her. I lay her gently in the bed and start to cover her.
She turns to me. “Please stay.”
I look up at the other two, and they nod. They walk over to Phoenix and kiss her forehead. I slide in next to her, and she turns to face me, curling into my chest.
“Why did you ask me to stay?” I rest my cheek on the top of her head.
Her eyes flutter closed. “You promised I’d never be alone.”
“Yeah, I did.” I pull her in tighter and listen to her breathing slow. After a few minutes, she’s sound asleep. I look down at her, finding her face is finally relaxed. She doesn’t look like she’s hurting or in pain anymore. She looks peaceful.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper.
And I am. For the things I’ve done in the past, and for the things I’ll probably do in the future.
thirty
PHOENIX
I decided notto go to classes today, but I didn’t want to miss my therapy appointment. I’m still not feeling like myself, and I’m hoping that Dr. Parker can maybe help get me back to feeling better than I have been. Daxon has skipped our study hall and is waiting outside the office we’re in. I finally brought up the reason why I’m not in study hall most of the time. They understood and told me that it was actually a good thing that I was talking to someone.
The three of them have decided that until we figure out who is behind these notes, it’s best one of them is with me at all times.