Page 78 of Genesis

She nods. “Okay. I understand.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Bexley

One month missing

Time slides by like a slug here. I’ve tried to yank open the door, grabbing it with my hands behind my back. I’ve screamed, I’ve kicked, and I’ve finally broken down and cried because I don’t think we’re getting out of here. The stranger comes by every two days now, feeding us crap and no longer leaving us with any water.

Danny hurts badly. He’s stiff, and I can’t imagine the pain his legs are in. Especially since he goes all day without getting up. The one thing about having nothing in your system is you don’t have to use the bathroom, which is bad. We’re dehydrated and extremely malnourished. Our skin has grown pale, almost translucent. Danny has a beard now, and his cheekbones are prominent.

I can feel my hipbones protruding more than ever against my forearms, and I know I look like death. Not being able to touch my hair and face. Not being able to look at myself, except through the reflection in the window, which is hardly a mirror.

I press my forehead against it, shutting my eyes.

“Why the flower shop?” Danny murmurs into the night. He’s been drifting in and out of sleep lately. I’m worried sick about him.

I move from the window, walking over to him. “What?” I ask gently.

“The flower shop? Why did you stay? Why didn’t you leave Postings?”

I shrug. “It’s my home.”

“But your photography,” he says. “You were so good at it.”

I nod. “Yeah, well, it was just a hobby.”

“I never thought that. I thought you were amazing.”

I smile sadly, wanting so badly to wrap my arms around him and hold him. My heart is breaking. My heart is already broken.

“Maybe I’ll pick it back up,” I say despondently.

Danny looks up at me, his eyes sickly. “Promise me.”

“Promise what?”

“That when we get out of here, you’ll go after it. That you’ll leave this town and never look back.”

For some reason, my broken heart shatters even more, and tears I don’t have the strength to cry rush out.

“I promise, Danny. I promise.” I get on my knees, placing myself between his. I rest my head on his chest. I feel his lips against my hair, and moments later, I hear his own tears.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Bexley

2006

I drop my phone onto the vanity as Uncle Hale knocks on the door. “Can I come in?” he asks.

I exhale nerves. “Yep.”

The door opens and I stand, grabbing my lip gloss from the bed. “He’s here,” he says.

I smile, sad to say, part of me didn’t think he’d show. Danny doesn’t do plans. He promised me he’d never let me down again, and that was his way of keeping his word. I do like the spur-of-the-moment things we do, but he’s gone against his own rules. Hehasset a plan, and he’s kept it.

My heart smiles in relief because I would have been absolutely devastated if he didn’t come. I feel my hands shake as I look at Hale. “Do I look okay?”

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