Page 145 of Love Me

I lean back and Dr. Camden’s voice lulls me back in.

My parents exchange a glance.

“I can’t live without you.”

“You can and you will. One of us has to be there for her,” my mom insists.

“We said we’d stay together.”

“My love, it’s okay. We’ll be together someday.”

“How can I live without you, without her?”

“Focus and beat them at their own game.”

“She won’t be the girl you wanted her to be if they find her.”

“My mother wouldn’t hurt my daughter. Celine will grow strong. She’ll have no other choice.”

“What did you see in that psychopath?”

“Felix wasn’t always like this.” My mom sighs. “None of us were, but this family, this legacy, poisons you.”

“I love you.”

“And I love you. You saved me.”

My father’s lips turn down in a small, dejected smile, and my mom kisses him. It’s so intimate I look out the window, where a gigantic tree rises from the ground. I point to it to show them, but my mom says, “You know what you have to do.”

She turns and presses me to her. One second, we’re driving. The next, a deafening screech of metal fills the air. My mom is torn away from me as the force of the impact propels her into the window.

It’s a blur of movement as my dad shatters the windshield and before he’s gone, he says to me, “I am coming back for you.”

I watch the blood seep from her arms, but her eyes find me and she croaks, “My fearless girl.”

A black SUV, followed by several cars, pulls over, and Uncle Felix rushes to the car. When he sees Mom, he curses. He sees me in the backseat. His eyes travel down the cliff.

“You should have followed him.”

He yanks me out of the car and puts me in the SUV.

When we finally stop, we’re in front of a gray building encircled by thick trees. I am rushed inside and immediately surrounded by people I don’t know.

As we walk down multiple long, white corridors, I ask, “Is my mommy okay?”

“Celine.” I rush to Uncle Caleb, but he puts his hand out to stop me, and I remember. No hugs.

“Your mother didn’t survive,” he says and two men drag me away. No, that can’t be. Instantly, I cry, big tears rolling down my face. Sobs rip through me and I am dizzy on my feet. I want my mommy.

Felix grips my hand, jerking me away. I am strapped down into a chair. Something resembling a belt covers my head and keeps my eyes open.

I watch a strange screen, and someone pricks my neck.

“You whined because you wanted to play. Your mother lost control of the car because she tried to comfort you.”

I repeat the words until I’m watching through my own eyes how I play and how my mom turns to look at me and loses control of the car.

“You killed your parents.”

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