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“Tell me,” I urge, setting the mug on his desk when my hands begin to shake.
“It was your uncle Luke who gave me the answers I needed.” A look of pain and disgust sweeps over his face before he pulls himself together. “As it turns out, there was a River. He did exist.”
I sit up a little straighter and would swear every nerve in my body is humming. I can almost hear it in my head. River was real. Past tense. “And? Who was he? What happened to him?”
It’s obvious he doesn’t want to say it in the way he grinds his teeth, the way his jaw ticks. “River was Ren’s biological brother.”
“Was?” I whisper. “Is he… dead now?”
“I’m afraid so. Apparently, according to Luke, River died there. He couldn’t remember the exact details, but it’s no secret to us that children were abused, sometimes severely. Whatever was done to River was too much, and he died… while Ren was present. Luke thought Ren was too young to remember.” If he knows anything else, he keeps it to himself. Maybe he wants to protect me from it.
Somehow, I knew. At least I had a good feeling it was something like this. Something that broke Ren, something so horrible his brain couldn’t handle it. “That’s what did it,” I conclude. “That’s what started it.”
“We don’t know that for sure,” Dad tells me. “We can’t pretend to be psychiatrists. But it does seem if anything could split a person’s personality the way you’ve described Ren, that would be it. He simply couldn’t handle the trauma, and his mind had to protect itself somehow.”
I can’t process it. My poor Ren. Imagine witnessing something like that at such a young age. “Thank you for at least humoring me enough to look into it,” I tell him once my brain starts moving again, once I’ve shaken off the shock.
He tips his head to the side. “If anything, I wanted to know for myself why he betrayed us. Not for his sake, but for my own. Now…” He sinks back into his chair and shrugs. “I don’t know what there is to be done for him, or if there’s anything we can do at all. There might be no getting through to him. It could be he’s completely lost touch with reality.”
I can’t believe that, and I won’t. I am not giving up on him, though I know better than to say those words out loud. Something tells me he knows anyway when he sighs before his shoulders sag.
All of that is lost when voices echo down the hall. I’m barely out of the study before Luna throws her arms around me,followed by her parents. I can barely make out their questions since they all overlap until it’s nothing but noise in my ears.
“I’m okay.” That’s all I can say over and over. It isn’t easy to look Ren’s parents in the eye after everything that happened, though when I do, there’s nothing but concern reflected at me. “I’m fine. I’m not hurt or anything like that. I’m really okay.” I wish I could say the same for Ren.
Dad clears his throat behind us. “Roman, Sophie. Come, have a seat. We need to talk.” The two of them exchange what seems like a nervous glance before joining my father, the three of them murmuring as they enter the study.
I wait until they’re inside with the door closed before pulling Luna in by her shoulders. “I need your help,” I whisper, leaning in close to her ear. “We need to find Ren. He’s sick, and he needs help, and right now I’m the only one who cares.”
“That’s not true,” she whispers back, shaking her head. “I want to help him. We all do.”
“What have you heard?”
She bites her lip. “Mom and Dad were talking. Something about him having something wrong in his head. That’s it. No specifics. Is it really that bad?”
All I can do is nod. “I have to get to him, and I have to tell him he needs help. Otherwise, he could get himself killed. None of this is his fault. You have to believe me.”
“I do.” Her eyes shine when she takes my hand and squeezes tight. “I know he wouldn’t do this unless there was something really wrong.”
“You’ll help me?”
“I’ll do everything I can.”
“Girls?” Mom finds us and begins walking our way. “Are you hungry? Scarlet, you didn’t finish your toast.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” I whisper before we follow Mom toward the kitchen. I still feel like shit, which is putting it mildly,and every second that passes has me a little more worried about Ren and what he’s going through.
But somebody is on my side. I have to cling to that tiny scrap of hope. Right now, it’s all I have.
4
SCARLET
Afew days later, and we’re still not any closer to a solution. Luna and her parents are staying here, hoping to figure something out together. Ren hasn’t tried to contact me and that worries me above all. What if I hit River too hard? No, I can’t think about that. I won’t let my mind go there. I have to believe he’s still at the cabin waiting for me to come back.
A knock on my door drags me out of my thoughts. “Come in!” I Yell, loud enough for the person on the other side to hear.
The door opens, and my father appears in the doorframe. “Someone is here to talk to us.”
