Page 62 of Into The Rabbit Hole

“No. I’m not. My dad,Ben,is going to prison tomorrow. I saw him yesterday, just to say goodbye, but I could barely look athim.”

The pain in her eyes grippedChloe.

“Out of everything that was revealed, out of all those horrible things he did, what got me the most was hearing about the woman hekilled.”

Chloe sighed. “Me, too.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. That story got her, too. She couldn’t imagine it. When she thought of Ben, she remembered the uneasy feeling she always felt, but she never imagined he was capable of any of this. Wade had had a hard time accepting it, and she knew he tried to be happy for her while they were inHawaii.

“He said that when the truth came out I’d hate him, and I do. He was right. But just like I thought, a part of me still loves him.” Her brows knitted indisdain.

“He’s yourfather.”

“But that’s just it, he isn’t. My mom told me that whole story about how she ended up marrying him and what she and Brian went through. All of that misery and depression was because of Ben. My actual father had to watch me grow up from the shadows because my mom was scared about what would happen if anyone knew I wasn’t aVanderville.”

Chloe reached over and took Taylor’s hand. “It’s awful. All of it. It’s just terrible, and I can’t imagine what you must feel right now. But know that I’m here. Always here for you.” It was the best she could offer, hersupport.

“I know. It’s…” Her voice trailed off and she squinted her eyes and started rubbing them. “Sorry, my eyes are burning. It must be that newmascara.”

Chloe was about to answer, but her eyes started burning too, and her nose. She looked over to the kitchen door that led outside and saw some green mist coming from underit.

Greenmist!

Wade mentioned something about that. Yes, she remembered now. It was when he told her and Wes what had happened on the night Merissadied.

“Taylor we…” Chloe couldn’t talk. She was finding it hard to move her mouth and she could barely see Taylor, who had just slumped down in her chair and dropped to theground.

“Help,” Chloe cried. She was getting weaker with each movement, and the kitchen was now filled with the mist. Her body went limp and trying to stand only resulted in her flopping down to the ground,too.

Footsteps sounded around her, echoing through her ears, and she swore she saw Richard standing over her with a white mask on before darkness filled her mind and engulfed everything aroundher.