Chapter 140
Betrayed by Blood
Avery’s bare feet hit the cold floor, a shiver racked through her body as she looked around, her eyebrows furrowed. It couldn’t be... how could she be back here? Her gaze flickered to the wall clock ticking quietly and then flashed to the calendar next to it. A sharp gasp left her lips, and she immediately ran out of the room, sprinting down the staircase.
The house was wrong. Too quiet. Too still. The calm was suffocating, wrapping around her throat like a noose.
She could hear voices—familiar, warm, comforting—voices she’d longed to hear for years but distant. As though they were close and yet still far away. She rounded the corner and stumbled into the kitchen.
"Mom! Dad!" Her voice came out strained, raw with desperation, but neither of them turned. They were right there, packing up the last few things before leaving.
Her mother’s gentle laughter floated in the air as she adjusted her coat, the cook was next to her, writing down the things her mother wanted. "Tell Avery we couldn’t wait any longer. Her uncle Hugh hasn’t stopped calling, and we all know how he gets when he doesn’t have his way. Tell her we will be back tomorrow, and she better not miss us too much," her mother said with a soft smile on her face.
Her father, on the other hand, checked his watch impatiently. He couldn’t leave, not without his wife, and yet he couldn’t help but be bothered by the traffic they could face.
Avery reached out—please, just let her touch them—only for her hand to pass through her mother’s arm as if she were nothing but smoke. Panic bloomed quickly in her chest. "Please—please—don’t go! You need to stop!" But her words dissolved into the air, unheard, unnoticed.
Her mother picked up her bag. Her father jingled the car keys.