else. Blake was beside me, pressed against the opposite door, as far away as he could get. Mr. Sterling drove, his

ceilings that swallowed sound, and furniture that looked like it h

pped the trunk. "Blake, show her to the guest room." T

He carried my bag up a grand, curving staircase, his footsteps echoing in the silence. My room was

there. Dinner is... whenever the housekeeper

ned to

the name feeling st

the doorway,

for carryi

felt a deep, chilling loneliness that was worse than anything I' d felt at the orphanage. There, at least, there was noise. There was l

out of my room, my bare feet cold on the polished wood floor. The house was a maze of shadows. I f

ham and cheese on white bread, but it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I knew who had left

at made the orphanage look like a palace. Blake drove me. He didn' t ta

aid as he pulled up to the imposing

s followed me down the hall. I saw Liam Henderson in the cafeteria. He was surrounded by friends, laughing. He sa

of girls cornered

m sneered. Her name was Jessica. The text over her head w

lone," a qui

tormy. He wasn' t yelling, but his presence was a physica

t me. "Are

, unable

unted. "L

I saw the text ov

ncts activated. B

for an hour, ending up at a quiet, green ceme

G. BELOVED WI

her. The silence here was different from the silence at the house. This was a sile

ve. He didn' t look at me, but as w

," he said, his voice rough.

ld, empty house, he stopped in front o

nt door," he said.

it felt like the first warm thing I had touc