ap burner phone Courtland had given her. She snapped

ct of rebellion,

through her thin dress. The city ligh

stolen from a loose change jar in t

cket to

hivering in a corner booth. The waitress gav

the window, her

ke you've se

was one of the gardeners from the

sliding into the opposite side of

ia said

shaking his head. "What he's doing to you

surprised by the

gardener said. "Before. When you were kids.

pierced through the fog. A boy with a temporary blindness,

she said, her voice hoarse.

steady. "He's the same person. H

with the force o

until she found a cheap motel.

smelled of stale smoke.

ress, fully clothed, and

in a field of wildflowers, the sun warm on their faces. He was l

with tears o

this second chance, this foreknowledge of the horror to come, and wh

rtland. On the pain he caused.

ad nurtured it, only to smash it to pieces when she became a woman... tha

o the small, cracked

reflection. A pa

r's house. That's where Aspen wa

remembering an

ag when there was a loud, i

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stas

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