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He nods, seemingly distracted as he glances at his phone. “Yeah, I know it is, Ravenlee.”
He’s called me Ravenlee three times since we arrived at this strange house in the middle of nowhere and hasn’t given me an explanation as to why we’re here. The large guys who greeted us at the entryway led us into this room before wandering off after telling us not to go anywhere.
I haven’t seen the scarred boy that one of the men called “Kid” since he wandered into the house. Honestly, I haven’t seen anyone besides my dad since the men left us here. I haven’t heard anything either.
This place is spookily quiet.
I chew on my thumbnail. “How long do we have to stay here?”
“I’m not sure.” His frown deepens as he reads something on the screen, worry written all over his face.
“Daddy?” I ask, starting to get really worried. “What’s wrong?”
He glances up at me, his face really pale. “Ravenlee, I’m so sorry that this …” He trails off as a tall man with dark hair enters the room. Then he swallows hard.
Something’s very wrong.
“I’m glad to see you made it,” the man says to my dad then glances at me in a way that makes my skin crawl.
“Did I really have a choice?” Dad mutters in an annoyed tone.
“No, but some men in your position might do something stupid, like try to run,” the man replies. “Glad to see you aren’t one of those men. I didn’t particularly feel like chasing anyone down today.” He glances at me again with a curious look on his face.
Wanting him to stop looking at me, I inch behind my dad.
A trace of a smile touches the man’s lips, as if my move amuses him. “She’s afraid of me,” he muses. “Smart girl.”
As a cold chill rolls through my body, I grab my dad’s hand. “Daddy?” I whisper. “Why does he want me to be afraid of him?”
He grips my hand tightly in a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry about it.” He sounds the complete opposite of his words.
The air grows quiet as the man sinks into silence, staring at me like I’m a complex puzzle he desperately wants to solve.
“We should get this done,” he finally says, looking at my dad. “Leave the girl here and come join me in my office for a drink. I’ll have Kid brought in.”
I have no idea what’s going on, but I grasp my dad’s hand desperately. “Don’t leave me,” I beg.
He glances down at me with remorse in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Ravenlee.” Then he pries my hand out of his. “Stay here,” he orders in a cold tone I’ve never heard him use before.
Tears burn my eyes as he starts to walk away.
When he notices I’m about to cry, he sighs, walks back to me, and crouches down so his gaze is level with mine. “Suck it up, Ravenlee,” he says in a quiet but firm tone. “Crying makes us weak. Do you want to be weak, or do you want to be strong like your mom and me?”
I shake my head and sniffle, trying to suck back the tears. “Strong.”
He offers me a small but sad smile. “Good girl.” Then he stands up and walks away without a glance back.
I watch him leave with my fingers curled into fists and my stomach winding into knots, but my eyes are dry.
Once the man and my dad leave the room, I move to sit down on the sofa, not sure what I’m supposed to do. But before I can sit completely down, the door is opened and a woman with long, red hair walks in. She’s wearing a black dress, a lot of sparkly jewelry, and her hair is done up like she’s going someplace fancy. She’s also not alone.
The sad boy with the scar trails in behind her, the boy everyone keeps referring to as Kid. He looks even sadder than before, which doesn’t even seem possible.
As the woman with the red hair walks toward me, she assesses me with a curious look on her face, like I’m some weird creature she’s never seen before.
“So, you’re the little girl everyone’s been fussing over?” She stops in front of me and tilts her head. “Honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is. You don’t even look like her. Makes me wonder if you’re really hers or if he was just bullshitting everyone. He does have a reputation for being a liar.”
“So do you, Diane,” the boy says with a shake of his head.
