Page 137 of The Last Session

Now, I lift up the mattress and pull out the diary. Her young handwriting pierces through my numbness. I slam it shut and breathe for a while. And soon I can feel it, that sinking back into the place where nothing exists. Where the horrors I’ve seen are just a dream.

Here I can acknowledge that I betrayed my sister. I told her to go, but only after I’d summoned her. It felt inevitable to stuff that note into the crayon box when Rachel left the conference room to go to the bathroom, but had it been? I’d known Moon andSol would appear shortly—I could feel it. But I could’ve kept my mouth shut. Thea wasn’t even there that morning.

ButcouldI have stopped it? Moon would say it’s destiny.

Thea’s voice comes to me:They lied to us in that other lifetime, right? Why is everyone trusting them now? They’re bad people. We know that.

It’s a good question. I guess it really doesn’t sound logical when you look at it like that. All I can say is that Moon explained it to me and it made sense at the time. She has an answer for everything. And now it’s too late. Maybe I’d briefly let myself imagine going to New York with Thea, but I’d known even then that it was a fantasy.

I will never leave.

I walk out of my room, pushing Thea’s diary down the back of my pants. I need to hide it somewhere, bury it, so Moon or Sol can’t touch it and contaminate it. It’s the one thing I can do for her. I slow as I near Karen’s bedroom. There’s a gap between the bottom of the door and the frame, and in the silence, I can hear her talking to someone. I bend down and press my ear to the opening.

“I have to turn the Wi-Fi back off soon.” She speaks in a low voice. “When can you get here?” She waits. “I called the police last time. And you know what happened. We waited three days—yes. Just get here.”

Her words are a riddle. I close my eyes, leaning my weight on the doorframe. I’m so, so tired.

“This is my fault, Clint. I was their mother. And I’m still supposed to protect…” She chokes up.

Clint? Why is she talking to Clint?

“She’s acting strange. I guess we all are.” Karen sniffles. “I don’t know, she might be too far gone. And Moon—no. Absolutely not. I told you, it’s a past life takeover. Her former self is now controlling her… yeah.” She waits. “I know. But this is how it had to happen. Once we get them out, we can leave. It’s the only way to end the pattern. Yes. Sedatives—yes. I will.”

Karen’s footsteps come towards me. I back away, return to my room.

I open the top desk drawer, where I put Clint’s scrap of paper. It’s gone.

I sit on the bed. I should tell Moon. I’m required to. But if I know, she can probably sense it.

I lie down. There’s something else I know. Not in detail, but vague outlines, like a halo.

Whatever I do or don’t do, it doesn’t matter.

Very few of us are going to make it out of here alive.

Part Four

53

The hole sucked me in; even as I planned to catch myself, I was hurtling through a tunnel, fast as a water park slide, paralyzed by the freezing-cold water. I hadn’t taken a deep enough breath, and now I gasped and water rushed in, filling my mouth and throat and lungs.

I’m drowning.The next few seconds stretched out, my chest on fire, my brain shutting down with panic, and then I was slamming against something and my head broke the water.

For a few seconds, all that mattered was inhaling oxygen and coughing and vomiting out the water. But then in the pitch-black and waist-deep water I noticed things touching me.

Something small and hard bumped against my calf. And something much bigger and softer pressed into my back.

I froze. Silky hair fanned against my palm.

I screamed and struggled in the other direction, back to where I came out, but the tunnel’s flow was too much, too strong. I felt around the walls.I cannot be stuck in this water with—

There was a ledge. I could feel its bumpy but relatively flat surface. I hoisted myself up, from cold water into cold air. It was barely big enough for me; I tried to sit up and my head hit the ceiling, so I hunched over, then lay down. I could fit on my side.

Grace is dead. She’s dead. She’s dead.

The knowledge squeezed my chest and my throat with dread.

What happened? Did she hit her head on her way here? Did she drown?