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I left her in the middle of the night while she was sleeping soundly. I could only imagine the fear she must’ve felt waking up the next morning and finding me gone, alongside my most valuable things.
Sorry, Sierra.
I spent the next hour in the bathroom crying by myself.
I kept it inside for as long as I could, but last night only pushed me over the edge. I cried until there were no tears left, and until the aching in my chest subsided. Mentally, I was still as strong as it was possible, but I knew that as soon as I leave this place, I’ll be thrown into the pitch black world that my mind would create for me.
Wiping away the fallen tears off my cheeks, I gave myself a last glance in the mirror.
This cannot break me. It will not break me.
For now, I was certain he wouldn’t kill me. And that was good enough to keep me going, to keep my head in the game. The best choice I had here was to steal his car keys and drive off. But somehow, I wasn’t so hopeful. He wasn’t stupid enough to keep it within my reach.
The bathroom door closed softly behind me.
His room still smelled like us, and I did my best to ignore the aching in between my legs. I was sore beyond belief. And Micah was nowhere to be found. His car was still there, which told me he was somewhere around, so I was on alert.
I left his room and strolled into the kitchen. Finding some breakfast, I ate it in record time. I hadn’t realized just how hungry I’d gotten. After that, I looked for Micah in the house, but didn’t find him. He had to be lurking somewhere — I could feel it.
I ignored the chills that crept up my neck, and walked towards the living room with a cup of warm tea in hand. He had no coffee here, which pissed me off. I was never a tea girl, but since there was nothing else, I couldn’t complain much.
There, on the small coffee table that rested between two couches, was that box.
The same box I found hidden underneath the bed in the room Micah was using. I approached it, sat on the couch, placed the hot beverage next to the box and, for a moment, simply stared at it. It didn’t register in my head until the tea had gotten cold, and this time, it was unlocked.
Carefully, I opened the lid, then slammed it.
I glanced around, looking for Micah. He was definitely somewhere around here. Did he put this box here to test me? And if so, what could be so important that the box was kept away, locked? And why did he just leave it, right where I could find it?
With shaky hands, I opened the lid once again, this time determined to find out what he’d been trying so hard to keep hidden.
Most of it was papers taken out of news articles. Some were printed from websites, and at the bottom of it were letters. Everything was slightly dusty, as if he hadn’t touched the contents of the box in a while.
I blew off some dust before unfolding the first piece of paper.
It was handwritten, and the paper itself was small.
‘‘I can’t do this anymore. I can’t live like this. I was ruined, they destroyed me. I keep having nightmares about what happened, and therapy isn’t helping. I want to end it all. I can’t live like this.’’
It was definitely a feminine handwriting, from what I could tell.
My brows furrowed at the message, and a strange sensation washed over my body. It was uneasiness. Whoever this person was, it was clear that they were struggling. Would it be all right if I read it all?
The moral part of my brain immediately backed off at the sight of a picture that was hidden within the mountain of papers. There was a date written on the bottom right corner.
November 7th, 2013.
It was a girl.
She was beautiful. Short blonde hair that fell straight just above her shoulders. A wide smile on her face, and nothing but happiness laced her gorgeous big eyes.
Immediately, I saw Micah in her.
They were definitely related, and once I flipped the photograph, I saw her name.
Ella Caine.
I put the picture aside and pulled out a couple of papers. They had no date, but they were written in the same handwriting as the first one I’d read. I assumed they were all written by Ella herself. However, before I pried further into her life, I took out all the news articles.
