Seph
“It may not be that bad,” Beth said beside me. “I’ve heard Dr. Marr does great work with kids like you. Maybe you’ll finally make some friends. A fresh start, right?”
I didn’t answer. Civilization smeared past the window—houses thinning into farmland, then into woods and fields that went on forever. The Shaggy Mountain Range hung on the horizon like a jagged promise: a fence, indifferent and immovable.
It made sense.
I was going to prison.
They called it the Darkmoor Institute, a “special school” for problem students. Perfect for ‘correction’.
The Lightwoods had raved about it. They had sent their own son there, Damien Lightwood. He went from troubled teen to upstanding citizen in a matter of a year.
Like he was a completely different person.
And now his younger brother Victor was there too.
But to me, a prison is a prison.
Beth sighed softly. I felt her eyes on me, waiting for me to break — to cry, to scream, to be anything other than this hollow shell beside her.
But she didn’t understand.
There was nothing left to break.
My fingers brushed the beaded bracelet on my wrist — pinks and greens that didn’t suit my black clothes, but I couldn’t take it off.
I wouldn’t.
I miss her.
Beth sighed again, heavier this time, like she wanted to pull me back from somewhere far away. So I gave her a weak smile, just to ease her worry. It wasn’t her fault I was here. She had always cared for me as best she could. She’d practically raised Sable and me.
Don’t think her name.
“Your mother hopes you’ll do well here,” Beth said quietly.
I couldn’t help it — I snorted.
“My mother hopes to hide me here. We both know that.”
“Seph, darling, your mother loves you… she just has a hard time showing it—”
I touched her arm with my gloved fingers — gentle, but final.
“I’m not a child anymore, Beth. I don’t need fairy tales to sleep.”
“Seph—”
“Beth,” I said softly, cutting her off before she could gather more comfort to hand me. “Thank you. For trying. For caring. For coming with me today.”
I looked back out the window, the reflection of my face ghosting over the trees as they blurred past.
I tried to fight the images that were seared to my mind.
The faces.
Those boys.
