Chapter 153: Heartbeats
Jacob~
The moment Gloria and Susan ran off, their heels clacking against the sidewalk like retreating gunfire, I turned my gaze back to Easter.
She hadn’t moved.
She just stood there. Still as stone. Her pale skin was lit by the orange hue of the streetlight above, but her eyes—Gods, her eyes—those wide green oceans were swimming in unshed tears, frozen in some storm I couldn’t touch. Her arms hung limp at her sides, fingers curled like she’d forgotten how to unclench them.
I took a single step toward her, then another. Slowly. Gently. Like she was a fawn that might dart at the sound of a leaf.
"Easter," I whispered. My voice sounded strange to my own ears. Too soft. Too unsure.
She flinched. Just slightly.
I was in front of her now, close enough to see the trembling in her lower lip. Close enough to feel the panic coming off her in waves. I lifted my hand and brushed a curl from her cheek. She didn’t pull away—but she didn’t lean in either.
"She used to say things like that all the time," she finally said. Her voice cracked. "Susan. The way she said my name... like it tasted bitter. Like I was already damned."
"I know," I murmured. "I saw it."
Tears slid down her cheeks, tracing paths of old wounds. "My parents used to believe her."