a P

door open. The stale air of the garage hit my face, and I practically threw myself out of the passenger seat, my heels cl

off the concrete walls, laced with that perfectly practiced, artific

y ran up the curved staircase. I didn't stop until I reached the master suite, p

ic *click* echoed in the tiled room. It was the only room in this massi

g the edges of the cold marble sink. I l

ine white porcelain. It looked like a toxic, chalky sludge. It was a perfect p

I stood there, my chest heaving, watching the heavy stream of water wash the bitt

hit my skin, sending a jolt of electricity straight to my brain. I splashed it again and again,

lowly lifted my head. I stared straight into th

years I was truly looking at

ed the fragile skin under her empty, hollow eyes. I looked like a marionett

igging in until my knuckles turned stark white. A hot, violent an

ound. The lack of a heartbe

them up. He had used my grief to label me unstable, to slip the collar around my ne

the hardwood floor of the bedroom. They

ed. My spine sn

.* The rhythm was slow, deliberate. It was a subtle psychol

th and gentle. "Are you alright in there? Do you wa

ised as an act of servic

ed it to my face, drying the water in one frantic motion. I closed my eyes, di

relax, pitching my voice into a soft, sleepy, slightl

the door for three agonizing seconds.

too long." His footsteps receded,

mped back against the locked door, gasping for air as if I had

bit I had developed to keep from suffocating in this house-always cracking a window for ox

riveway below. As an architect, my brain automati

he concrete driveway.

his designated left-side parking bay. He was a man obsessed

le. Its massive rear bumper was completely blocking the right-side bay. It was dead-lock

dly asked him about it before, he had blamed the dar

e. Stripped of my self-doubt, the truth was gla

It was a barricade. If I ever wanted to leave the house, I woul

. I picked up my phone from where I had dropped it next to

pressed the lens right up against the narrow gap. I fr

on, Hu