Page 27 of To Die For

“We’ll come back,” I whisper, though she can’t hear me.

Then I turn and follow the others down the stairs, each step heavier than the last.

Outside, the air is cold and wet. Sirens wail somewhere in the distance, too far away to matter. Adrian lights a cigarette as we hit the street. Elias slides behind the wheel of the car. I glance up, one last time, at the window we just left behind. The curtain stirs in the wind.

She’s still asleep.

For now.

But she’ll wake soon.

She’ll read the note.

And she’ll remember.