“Your mother had a long struggle, but she was having trouble keeping anything down. I called in a specialist, who prescribed her medicine, but her body couldn’t fight anymore, and she passed away.”

“What?”

His grip on my leg tightened, and I suddenly felt like I might vomit. “That’s not possible. Food poisoning doesn’t last for weeks.” I was trying to make sense of what he was telling me, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the news.

“Are you saying I’m a liar?” he asked, his head cocked at an angle, and a challenging glare in his eye.

“N-no. Of course not.”

“Because if that’s the case, perhaps you staying here isn’t the best idea.”

Oh God. My mother was dead, and now I was going to be kicked out on the street. I felt dizzy.

“I really need to see Colin. Where’s Colin?” I rubbed my hands over my eyes as I struggled not to break down.

“Colin is with his girlfriend.”

My heart stopped, ripped from my chest.

“Didn’t you know?” he asked, and I shook my head, tears unabashedly streaming down my face now. “It’s all right. He’ll be back later. I’m here now.” He wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug that pinned my arms to my sides as he pressed a kiss to my temple, pushing me onto my side and his weight coming down on top of me.

“What are you doing? Stop it!” Panic set in, and I screamed Colin’s name at the top of my lungs until a hand that smelled of mildew covered my mouth. I struggled in his grip, kicking my foot repeatedly into his shin as I lay on my side, immobilized.

Finally, like an answered prayer, the door flew open, and Colin blocked out the sun as his frame filled the doorway. His eyes were wide, and he lunged at Taylor, prying him off me. I scrambled to get out of their way, rolling onto the floor and gasping for air.

Colin was on top of Taylor, his fist pummeling into his face and blood soaking into the blanket.

I could hear myself screaming, but I sat frozen, watching in horror as Colin turned into a monster. Finally, my words got through to him, and he paused, his hand still in the air ready to hit again, his breathing ragged. He glanced down at Taylor, who lay unconscious, and then Colin’s eyes were on me again.

“Did he?” He looked me over. Assessing me.

“I’m OK. I’m OK,” I cried, and he pushed from the bed and gathered me in his arms, squeezing me so tightly I couldn’t draw a breath.

“Did you…d-did you kill him?”

“Not yet.”

“What if someone comes? Oh God. What’s going to happen to us?”

He pulled back, his large hands on either side of my face. “No one will hurt you. I promise. But we need to go.”

I nodded, but my body didn’t move. Colin spun around and reached under his bed, pulling out my small bag, which contained my only remaining earthly possessions. He grabbed a few of his own things and shoved them inside before taking my arm and guiding me to the doorway.

We ran across the grassy field to the main house. I kept a lookout as Colin slipped inside, grabbing a set of keys from a hook on the wall. He grabbed my hand and pulled me from the house. Our escape was a blur of sadness and fear, the adrenaline carrying me when my limbs were too tired to move on their own.

Colin tried three keys before the padlock on the gate that lined the property popped open. We slipped out and stopped at an old beige Cadillac. Our eyes met, and he smiled, for once catching a break.

“Get in.” He smirked, and I rushed to the passenger side, flinging open the door and diving in.

We drove for nearly a half hour until the car began to buck and lurch.

“No, no, no, no,” he muttered as we drifted off to the side of a desolate road. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” He slammed his hands against the steering wheel with each curse. He fell silent, and his heavy breathing was the only sound in the car. “We’re going to be fine.”

I wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince me or himself.

“What about your girlfriend?” I asked, hating how my chest tightened just saying the word.

“What?” He looked around as if thinking and then laughed to himself. “Annabel, there is no one else. You are all I have.” He held my gaze until the sound of an engine in the distance caught our attention. “We have to flag them down.” He opened his door, but I reached across the seat and grabbed his hand.

“You can’t. What if it’s one of them?”

“If it’s one of them, there are two of us.”

I nodded, knowing we had no other choice. He hopped from the car and waved his hands in the air. The car, a shiny black sedan, slowed and pulled off on the shoulder ahead of us. Colin glanced at me before walking toward the car. An older man wearing a suit got out and glanced back toward me. Colin spoke to him for a few minutes before the man nodded, and Colin waved for me to join them.

That was how we met Connor Blakely and how he became the most famous lawyer in Mississippi by exposing a cult in the heart of Dixieland. But he was careful to keep us out of the story.

By the time it was raided, Taylor was long gone, and he hadn’t surfaced since that night.

Chapter 22 - Jacob

“If you fail, then we failed as parents,” my dad spat angrily as I slumped over on the couch.

“School isn’t important, and I think it’s time to throw in the towel on this one. I’m a lost cause.” I shook my head and laughed as my high settled deep into my chest. I dug my pack of cigarettes from my pocket and knocked the box against my hand.

“Don’t smoke in this damn house,” he yelled as his face turned red with anger. I glanced up at him through heavy eyelids. My father’s shirt was only half tucked in, and the bags under his eyes made him look twenty years older than he was. I watched as he slowly fell apart, much like me. The man who was once my childhood hero was now nothing more than a shell of his former self. My mother’s death and the downward spiral of his son had worn him down until he no longer functioned.

My head was spinning with my visit with Annie last night. I was anxious to get to spend the entire day with her and find out whether she was upset that I had been talking to Nat. I scrubbed the heels of my hands over my eyes, hoping to sober myself.

“What do I have to do to get through to you?”

I stared up at my father with blurred vision, waiting for him to stop lecturing me so he could leave for work and I could call Annie.

When I didn’t respond, he shook his head and walked out of the back door angrily.

“Thank fucking God.” I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and texted Annie to let her know she could come over. I got up and walked to the door, staring across the field. I pushed open the screen door and flicked my cigarette out onto the dirt road.

I slipped on my sneakers and walked toward our “bear” tree, hoping to catch her on her way over. When I reached the fence and still hadn’t received a reply, I decided to slip through and continue walking through the trees on her property.

As I walked up the steps to her porch, I smoothed my hands over my shirt before knocking on the oversized wooden door. After a few seconds an older man answered, causing me to take a step back.

“Hi, um…I’m looking for Annie.”

He eyed me for a moment. “She’s in school.”

My eyes narrowed as I scratched the back of my head. “Are you sure? She…uh…said something about not feeling well and wanted me to take her homework in.”