Page 88 of Let Me In

Not loud, or wild, just fast.

Like I’m holding something I wasn’t meant to touch.

The wind picks up around me as the car drives off, sweeping across the field like it wants to erase the whole moment. But it can’t. Not from my body. Not from my skin. Not from the trembling that’s just now starting in my hands.

I turn away slowly.

Luca returns to my side without being called. Cleo’s already ahead, nose down in a patch of grass, like she didn’t just witness me disobey the one rule he gave me.

Don’t approach.

But I did.

Because I had to.

Because when I saw him step out of that car, saw the way he moved like he belonged somewhere he didn’t, like he expected me to come to him—I knew.

It wasn’t random.

It was someone from Cal’s world.

And I knew I’d never get another chance.

I felt the tracker in my pocket the whole time, a smooth coin of metal pressing against my fingers like it knew it was meant for this.

So I smiled, spoke softly. Pointed at Luca, who obligingly took off after a bird like it was his idea.

And when the man glanced away, I crouched—just a little. Just for a second.

Slipped it into the curve behind the bumper.

A magnetic click.

Quick.

Done.

I didn’t breathe again until I was walking away.

And now…

Now I can’t stop.

My breath shudders out of me like I’m falling apart molecule by molecule. My knees feel shaky, like they might give out. My hands are tingling, cold at the fingertips. It’s like the fear’s still leaving me, molecule by molecule too. Like the courage I borrowed is evaporating, and all that’s left is me.

And the guilt.

Because I broke the rule.

I broke the rule.

And even if I did it for the right reason—even if I wanted to help—I know him.

I know how careful he is.

How much it costs him to feel afraid.

And I made him feel it.

---