Page 157 of The Truths We Burn

Abruptly, he spins around, staring at me, but it seems like he isn’t actually seeing me.

“Rook,” he expresses, “they wouldn’t let me wait. I couldn’t wait anymore. We were running out of time.”

I nod. “That’s alright. We don’t have to wait. You don’t have to wait.”

I walk closer to him, needing to get that gun out of his hand. I had stood in front of multiple targets while Silas shot objects around me. I would never doubt his aim, and I’m not going to deny him Frank’s death, but I’m afraid of what he’ll do after he’s done shooting him.

“Let us help you, okay? That’s why we’re here. We are here to help.” I try to keep my voice level, despite my nerves.

I keep walking until I’m right in front of him, only focusing on him.

I’ve never been inside of the Donahue house, only seeing it from the outside when we would drop Rosie off and when I’d sneak Sage out at night. You would think I would be used to normal places harboring ominous things.

“Don’t let him kill me, please. He has lost his mind—you can’t let him kill me. You have to help me,” Frank shouts from his place on the ground.

Silas shakes his head aggressively, looking to the right of me where there is no one, just a love seat.

“He is my friend. He wouldn’t do that,” he says, “He wouldn’t.”

“Hey, hey, Silas, look at me,” I tell him, trying to keep him here in reality, afraid to touch him because I’m not sure if that will help or harm him.

“What are they saying? Talk to me.”

“They—” He squeezes his eyes shut, cringing like he’s in pain. “They are telling me you’re going to stop me. That you don’t want me to get Rose back. They want me—”He reopens his eyes, looking at me and I swear all I see is him screaming for help.“They want me to kill you.”

I feel Thatcher shift behind my back, both of us facing away from the kitchen.

“If I could bring Rosie back, I swear to God I would, Silas. I would do anything,” I say, meaning every ounce of it. “But I can’t. There is nothing anyone can do to bring her back. The voices, it’s your mind playing tricks on you. They aren’t real, okay? It’s just inside of your head.”

I’m so angry that these things inside of his mind are taking him from me, and there’s nothing I can do. I can’t fight them. I can’t battle them for him, and I just feel useless. Not right now.

I promised I would look after him. I promised myself I wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

And look at what I let happen.

“You can’t do this. They won’t let you—”

My hands twitch a few times before I snap my head in Frank’s direction.“If you open your mouth again, I’ll burn your fucking eyes out, is that clear?” I bite out.

“Please, Rook. You’ve known me since you were a boy. Don’t do this. If you let me live, I’ll tell you everything I know. There are more people here in Ponderosa Springs involved. So many, you don’t have the slightest clue. I was just a victim to their organization. There are more powerful people in charge. You can throw them all in prison, me included, just don’t kill me.”

“Frank,” I seethe, staring down at him hard, “What isn’t clicking for you here? We don’t need you to figure any of that out. You are of no use to me alive, understand? The best thing you can do for me right now, is die.”

He shakes his head, fat tears streaming down his ballooned face,

“Please, I never wanted Rose to die, she was my little girl—”

“He said to be quiet!” Silas shouts, slinging the butt end of the gun into Frank’s head, causing a loud thud, followed by him crashing onto the floor. His eyes are closed, and his body is limp, but I can still see his chest moving to let me know he is still alive.

Doubt hits me like a wave, could we figure out who else was tied into Halo without an insider? I mean we had gotten this far.

We’d gone too far.

And if I had to guess we wouldn’t need to go looking for anyone else in involved.

They would be coming for us.

Very soon.