Fred shifted restlessly in the creaky hospital chair that was currently situated by his sister's bedside. He wasn't sure of the time-he'd lost track ages ago-but he knew from the dimming light in the room that it was early evening. That was all he knew, actually.
He let out a sigh as he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping to alleviate the dull ache in his head.
He and George had returned to London early that morning. It had actually been the crack of dawn when he came back, factoring in the time difference between London and Salem. He and his brother had gone tearing into the hospital and met up with their family outside of Ginny's room.
Apparently, she'd been out with Luna in Hogsmeade, when the two of them had been ambushed in the middle of the street by a group of men dressed in black. It was late and there weren't any other people around to witness the attack. The two girls had fought back-and fought back well-but they were outnumbered. Luna made it out with just some minor scrapes and bruises, and she had been hit with a Stunning spell at one point, which had been an easy fix. Ginny hadn't ended up so lucky, though. According to Luna, the guys seemed like they were specifically targeting Ginny with the intention to harm her. And once Luna was taken out and Ginny had become not only even more outnumbered, but also more and more exhausted, it had been easier for them to hit her with the Cruciatus Curse as well as Sectumsempra and what seemed like any other spells they could think of that would cause physical harm.
The thing that had saved her life in the end? Her bracelet. The very one Fred and George had made for all their family and friends. Both Ginny's and Luna's had gone off like crazy, considering they were two of the three linked together and they were both in danger. But thank goodness Fred and George had thought to add a third person to every grouping because Neville's bracelet began to heat up, alerting him to the danger. From there, he was able to call for help and also rush over to Hogsmeade himself, since the bracelet brought him straight to their location.
Luckily, both girls would be okay. Ginny was weak, scraped and bruised and had a fractured collarbone. She'd also lost a lot of blood from the Sectumsempra spell, which made her even weaker. She'd been unconscious the entire time Fred and George had been at the hospital.
Fred shifted again in the chair as he stared blearily at the window of the hospital room. The curtains covering it were only open a crack, giving him a small, obstructed view of the world outside. He wondered what Rachel and Sophie were doing now. Had they made it to the Proctor house? Had they found anything? And what about Eric? Where was he? Fred and George's bracelet's hadn't heated up yet, which was a good sign. It let Fred know that at least Sophie was safe.
Fred was pretty sure that while he didn't know what Sophie was doing right now, he knew what she was thinking. Just from her reaction at the library. She'd almost been in shock as she plopped down in a chair. Even in the panicked state Fred had been in, he knew the gears were turning in her head. She thought it was Eric that had attacked Ginny. But that was impossible. Eric was in Salem. And while the Mystery Woman was potentially helping him with fast transportation, Fred knew for a fact that Ginny and Luna had been attacked by a group of men. Besides, if Eric was transporting himself back and forth from Salem constantly this past week-to follow Sophie there, then come back and attack Ginny and Luna, then return back to Salem-that would surely raise some kind of suspicion. Especially if he was using a Portkey. Illegally created ones were hard to track when they were used once, but if one person was making quite a few, and all between the same two places...
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. He'd hated leaving Sophie the way he had. He knew he'd completely freaked out and it all had happened so quickly. He and George had been gone in the blink of an eye. The fear had completely overtaken him and he'd kept replaying the moment Percy died over and over in his head. Feeling the helplessness and terror all over again. He knew he barely gave Sophie an explanation, much less an apology or even a goodbye. He'd left her hanging. She deserved those things though. He owes it to her. And he hasn't even stopped to consider her at all. But she had to know why he'd panicked. She did know. How many times had they discussed it? It still didn't make it right, though. Especially after he'd promised he wasn't leaving her. He could only hope that she wouldn't do anything rash while he was gone. He'd made Rachel swear not to let Sophie out of her sight. He made her promise to stick together. Rachel cared about Sophie too. They'd be safe, wouldn't they? They had to be. Because whether he'd realized it happening or not, Sophie had slowly inched her way into the group of people that Fred deeply feared losing. The group of people that he absolutely could not live without.
He was so lost in his thoughts that the skin on his wrist began to register the feeling of heat before his mind comprehended what it meant. Only when the heat began to slowly intensify did he suddenly shoot out of his chair as he looked down at his wrist. Sophie. She was in trouble. Eric had found her. He must have.
Before he could react, George burst into the room, panting slightly.
"The bracelets," he managed to gasp out. "I was on my way back from the cafeteria. Ran the rest of the way here."
Fred nodded. He knew his face was deathly pale and his eyes wide, but his mind was already formulating a plan. "I'm going to need you to stay here with Ginny. Keep watch over her, will you? I'm going to go back to Salem and-"
"Are you mental?" George asked, coming fully into the room and shutting the door before turning back to Fred. His face was etched with frustration. "I'm not letting you go back there alone!"
"Someone needs to stay here!" Fred argued.
"Our whole family is here already," George said.
"It doesn't matter!" Fred cried. "I'm not going to let anything here take a turn for the worse while I'm in another country, unable to get here fast enough! I'm not letting anything bad happen to her because I couldn't do anything in time."
"Hate to break it to you, but that already happened!" George exclaimed. "It's a terrible feeling, I know, but it happened and luckily she's fine. These bracelets we made saved her life, but we also have to react in time for them to work. So if Sophie's in trouble, we have to get back to Salem and you can't be in two places at once, Fred."
"That's why I need you! Let me get to Sophie and you can make sure Ginny's okay and stays that way."
"Ginny is okay," George insisted.
Fred scoffed. "Look at her, George. She's far from okay."
"Fine, maybe not currently, but she will be. She's in good hands," George argued. "The Healers are doing their jobs exceptionally well. Ginny's going to be fine. We know this."
"What about everyone else?" Fred asked. "What if someone else gets attacked?" He shook his head. "The fact of the matter is that we are running out of time." He brushed past his brother on the way to the door. "I need to go and I need you to listen to me and-"
"You both need to get out of here."
Fred whirled around to see Ginny squinting at him blearily from the bed. Her voice had been hoarse when she spoke, but she had spoken and her eyes were open, even if just slightly. Fred couldn't help but smile a bit.
"Hey, Gin," he said quietly, turning back towards her bed and kneeling beside it, resting his hand on her arm. "How are you feeling?"
"Awful," she rasped out. "Even more so having to wake up to the two of you bickering. It was really getting on my nerves. It woke me up. And you know how much I hate being woken up before I'm ready to be."
"Never stopped us from doing it before," George muttered as Fred smiled again.
"So, about Sophie-well, you said so yourself," Ginny said authoritatively. "You're running out of time. You both need to go back to Salem. I'm going to be fine. Don't waste time worrying about me or any of us now when Sophie needs you. We're all here together anyway and I don't think anyone would dare attack all of us at once in the middle of the hospital. So get the hell out before I Bat-Bogey Hex you into the next millennium."
"That's only next year, Gin," George pointed out. "A few more months to be exact. I think we'll survive."
Ginny rolled her eyes as Fred let out a scoff of laughter. "Gin..." he said, meeting her eyes as he trailed off.
"Go!" she urged impatiently. "We can all catch up, gossip, and share secrets when you come back. I'll even paint your nails if you'd like."
"Okay, okay, we're going," George said with a laugh, grabbing Fred's arm and yanking him towards the door. "Tell Mum and Dad where we went, will you?" he called back to Ginny.
"Stop ordering me around and I might," Ginny answered just before the door clicked shut.
The next ten minutes passed by in a blur. Fred barely remembered leaving the hospital and traveling back to Salem, using a Portkey that neither he nor George cared about being unauthorized. They'd deal with any consequences later, if they even got caught. Once back in Salem, the heat from the bracelet was even stronger than before. Fred's stomach churned as he glanced at George and they silently agreed to Apparate together and let the bracelets take them to Sophie.
Fred tried to mentally brace himself for what was to come and what he would find. What if Sophie's thoughts had been right and Eric had somehow been behind Ginny's attack as a way to get Fred and George away from Salem? What if he was too late in getting to Sophie? The idea of finding her dead frightened and nauseated him. His chest tightened and he squeezed his eyes shut.
"Fred, focus," George demanded. "You can't Apparate if you aren't thinking clearly."
Fred shook his head rapidly to clear away the fog of panic that had clouded his mind. "Right, okay, I'm fine-let's go."
George counted to three and they both turned on the spot, only to reappear in front of a very busy pub. Fred fought the urge to groan.
"I swear if Rachel persuaded her to come here and the bracelet is just going off because some creep is trying to take advantage of Sophie, I'm going to give Rachel a piece of my mind. I told her-"
"We know what you told her," George said, heading for the door to the pub. "But regardless of what danger she's in, she still needs help, so let's go."
The two of them went inside and wound their way through the crowd. The place was pretty crowded at this time. Loud music was blaring and people were all talking over each other.
"Do you see them?" Fred asked loudly.
"No," George yelled back.
"Should we split up?" Fred asked.
George opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, a line of drunk girls decided to cut in between them, squeezing through the space that hadn't even been big enough for a person to fit through to begin with. It forced Fred and George to step further apart from each other and share a look over the girls' heads.
"There's always that one girl that can't hold her liquor, you know," one of the girls said to her friends with a tipsy giggle, looking over her shoulder at them as she walked, and seemingly oblivious to the fact that Fred and George were standing there. "How embarrassing to be throwing it all up in the bathroom in front of everyone."
All the girls laughed together as they finally finished maneuvering by. Fred looked at George urgently.
"You think?" George asked.
"It's happened to her before," Fred said. "She's been pretty set on not letting it happen again, but maybe with all that's going on with Eric..." He trailed off and let George fill in the rest on his own. "Rachel was supposed to-"
"I know," George answered quietly. Fred barely heard him over the noise.
With a sigh, Fred turned and fought through the crowd again, more urgently than before until he reached the back of the room where the bathrooms were. He looked rapidly from one to the other as he identified the correct one before barging in, disregarding the sign on the door displaying a little figure in a triangular dress.
A few girls standing inside let out cries of shock as they saw him, followed by looks of disgust. A few told him he couldn't be in there, but he ignored them as he made his way down the row of stalls, following the sound of retching that he'd been able to pick up as he made his way into the bathroom.
The sound was coming from the very last stall which was opened a crack and had a few girls surrounding it.
"Excuse me," Fred said, slipping through the small crowd and peering quickly into the stall. In a way, part of him almost hoped it was Sophie at this point, because if he went barging in on a strange girl vomiting in the women's lavatory, George wouldn't let him live it down.
But when Fred looked into the stall, he was a strange mix of relieved but also confused as he saw that it was Rachel kneeling at the toilet, with another girl standing behind her, holding her hair back as she vomited.
"Shit," Fred sighed. He did not have time for this right now. He needed to get to Sophie, but he also couldn't leave Rachel now that he knew she was in this mess. And he already knew George was not willing to split up at this point.
"Hey," George said, squeezing by Fred and looking into the stall to get the attention of the second girl. "Sorry to barge in, but we're her friends. What happened?"
"George," Fred said, "we have to hurry."
George ignored him as the girl he'd spoken to looked over her shoulder at them. "She was standing near me at the bar and she was already pretty drunk," she explained. "But the creep she was here with kept buying her drinks and she kept drinking them, too drunk to even comprehend what she was drinking, or how much. I swear, he wanted to get her drunk. And he just gave me a really bad feeling, you know? So at one point when the guy was busy ordering them more drinks, I tried stepping in to cut her off. I told her she'd had enough. She tried telling me she was fine, but clearly she wasn't. In the middle of me trying to get her to let me help her, I happened to glance over at the guy and saw him look around as if to see if anyone was looking, then he quickly dropped something in her drink! So obviously, I wouldn't let her drink it and told the guy to leave or else I'd report him to the police. He tried to tell me to mind my own business and that I had no proof, but I refused to back down. I started raising my voice, fully ready to start causing a scene, and that's when he seemed to decide if wasn't worth it and he left. But then she started throwing up not long after." She looked down at Rachel. "Do you know these guys?"
Rachel lifted her head and nodded warily. Then, she lifted her arm, slowly as if it were made of cement, and gestured to first Fred, then George. "That's George, that's Fred. Or maybe it's the other way around. Can't tell right now. I'm a little busy." She groaned and hiccuped before the vomiting began again. When it stopped, she lifted her head and gave the girl she was with a knowing smile as she lowered her voice only slightly to just a loud whisper. "Whatever one of them lights up at the name Sophie is Fred."
"Speaking of Sophie," Fred began, the anxiety in his stomach returning full force, "where is she? She is here with you, isn't she? Please tell me she's here with you."
"She was," Rachel said. "I don't know where she is now, but earlier she gave me a friendship bracelet! Isn't that sweet?" And then she was overcome by another round of vomit.
Fred sighed and pulled the collar of his shirt over his nose as the smell started to really get to him. He suddenly noticed George frowning in thought as he stared down at his wrist, then shifted his gaze slowly to Rachel. Suddenly, and almost urgently he turned to look at the girl who was still standing in the stall and looking down at Rachel in sympathy. "What's your name?" George asked her.
"Hannah," the girl said, looking up at George.
"Hannah," George repeated with a slight smile. His tone was calm, but Fred could tell just from the look in his eyes that he was anything but calm, which made Fred wonder what his twin had suddenly figured out. "We really appreciate you helping her," George went on. "Really. We're glad she had someone looking out for her until we got here."
"Of course," Hannah said earnestly. "I couldn't just sit back and not say anything."
"We're glad you didn't," George said. "I mean it. We can take it from here, though. We'll get her out of here. You can go back to your friends. You've done more than enough."
"Are you sure?" Hannah asked hesitantly. She looked both Fred and George up and down, scrutinizing them.
"Positive," George said. He and Fred stepped aside to let Hannah out. She hesitated at the doorway and looked back at Rachel.
"You're sure you know these guys?" She asked.
"We go way back," Rachel said, waving her hand dismissively. "I'll be fine."
"We all went to school together," George told Hannah. He held his hand out to her. "I'm George and this is my brother, Fred."
"Rachel said that," Hannah said slowly, shaking George's hand. She looked at Fred and he gave her a nod of greeting, which she returned.
"Don't mind him," George said. "He's just in a hurry to find his girlfriend."
"George," Fred practically growled. George simply shrugged in response.
Hannah nodded and gave Rachel one last look before turning to the twins. "Thanks," she said. "For coming in to get her."
"We hardly did a thing," George said. "Thank you."
Hannah finally left the bathroom. By this time the rest of the girls that had been there had cleared out as well and the bathroom was actually empty, in a brilliant stroke of luck.
The second Hannah was gone, George's calm demeanor dropped and he rushed into the stall to kneel beside Rachel. "Where's Sophie?" He asked urgently. "Think, Rachel, anything you can remember about tonight, anything she may have said or done..."
"Aren't you going to explain the reason I practically saw a lightbulb go off above your head?" Fred asked his brother.
George looked up at him desperately. "Rachel said Sophie gave her a friendship bracelet."
"Rachel's drunk," Fred said. "I highly doubt Sophie would suddenly feel the need to hand out friendship bracelets in the middle of what's—"
He broke off as George grabbed Rachel's wrist and held it up. "Look familiar?" George asked.
Fred gaped down at Rachel's wrist and he felt his heart and stomach sink as he caught on to what George was talking about. Rachel was wearing Sophie's bracelet. The one Fred had given her to protect her. The one that was supposed to alert him and George to any possible danger. But then if Rachel was wearing it...
"Did you notice that the heat from our bracelets had stopped by the time we were talking to Hannah?" George asked. "Our bracelets went off because some creep was trying to drug Rachel."
Fred blinked as he tried to process everything, but his brain felt like it was stuck in mud. Rachel had Sophie's bracelet. She had gotten into danger. And while Fred was glad it had helped them get to her, she'd also had Hannah here to save her from the immediate problem, which had been even luckier. Rachel was fine. But at the same time, if Sophie had given Rachel the bracelet...
He felt and heard all of the air escape his lungs as he clumsily leaned onto the stall door for support.
"If Sophie gave her that bracelet-" he began out loud.
"She's gone," George whispered. "She gave it to Rachel to protect her from any creeps targeting a girl alone at a bar, and also so she could go find Eric without us being able to find her."
"She wants to face him alone," Fred whispered. Now he felt like throwing up. "She didn't want us going after her and getting into danger ourselves."
"Rachel," George was saying now. "Tell us everything that happened once Fred and I left this afternoon."
"George, we don't have time for you to question her," Fred said impatiently. "We don't time for a story. Especially from a drunk girl who probably can't even remember!"
"We don't even know where Sophie is!" George responded back, his voice filled with frustration. "We need to know where she went if we're ever going to find her."
"I can tell you where she went!" Fred roared. "She went to find Eric to finally put an end to all of this! She thinks he was behind Ginny's attack!"
"She does," Rachel said quietly. "She was freaking out at the hotel after you two left. That I remember."
Fred gave George an I told you so look before returning to pacing.
"Well, fine," George said. "She went to find Eric. I agree with you. It makes sense. Combined with her getting rid of her bracelet so we wouldn't be able to come back and stop her...But where would she go to look for him? That's the problem. He could be anywhere in this town."
"The Proctor house," Rachel rasped out, coughing slightly and sniffling. "It's what we were supposed to be checking out before you had to leave, remember?" She hesitated. "There was a handwritten circle around the house on the map we found. With a label. The ink was still pretty new. Sophie thought that woman had done it. A clue."
"Or a trap," Fred said, halting his pacing. "A trap Eric set for her. We have to go. Now."
"You're right," George agreed. He looked at Rachel. "Can you stand?"
"What do you mean can she stand?" Fred asked in astonishment, gaping at George. "She's drunk! Besides, we have to go, George!"
"We don't know where the Proctor house is!" George shouted back, standing up and facing Fred as he threw his hands up in the air in frustration. He pointed at Rachel. "She does! You and I left before they could show us the map, remember? Our only chance of getting there is if Rachel can Apparate us. Or at least describe the location to us from the map."
"Well, then we're completely fucked, aren't we?" Fred let out a bitter laugh as he threw up his own hands. "Our only chance of finding Sophie rests with a drunk girl!" He rounded on Rachel, blood pounding in his ears. "And you were supposed to be protecting her! I told you to keep her close and not to let her out of your sight. And instead you get yourself wasted and end up with the one thing that would lead us to Sophie around your wrist!"
"I didn't know what it was," Rachel groaned feebly from the ground. She wiped the back of her mouth with her hand. "I didn't know. And I wouldn't have known even if I was sober."
"You wouldn't have thought it odd that Sophie just suddenly gave you a bracelet off of her own wrist and then disappeared?" Fred asked with a scoff.
"Obviously it would've been a red flag if she'd disappeared," Rachel groaned. "I would've gone after her if I'd known she'd left. But I still wouldn't have known what this bracelet did."
Fred turned away and ran a hand over his chin. If Sophie had given her bracelet to Rachel, she must have known she was at a point where she wouldn't question it. And if she had planned it this way, she must have somehow planned for them to come to the pub and planned for Rachel to be drinking. That way the bracelet would protect Rachel from danger and allow Sophie to be out in Salem alone.
"Whose idea was it to come here?" Fred asked Rachel, turning back to her.
"Nick invited us," Rachel said.
"Nick?" Fred and George asked together, sharing a look. "Hang on. You mean to tell us that Nick was the guy who got you wasted and tried to drug you?"
Rachel nodded and pushed herself back so that she was leaning against the wall. The vomiting seemed to had subsided which was a plus, but she still looked terrible. Not well enough to be of any help physically right now. Although mentally, she had done a pretty good job, Fred had to admit.
"He came to the hotel," Rachel went on. "Sophie saw him from the window. She said we should go down and see what he wanted."
"So she was the first to mention it," Fred said.
"I guess," Rachel shrugged. "Then Nick asked me to hang out. I told him I couldn't. I swear. I told him no. But he invited Sophie too and she insisted she was okay with it. She insisted we go."
"And there we go," Fred scoffed. "That was her plan! The opportunity arose and she took it! An opportunity to get you out with Nick, distracted and some form of drunk. Then when you were drunk enough, she passed her only form of protection to you and ran off!" He shared a desperate and panicked look at George before he smacked his hand against the wall as he dropped his head and looked at the ground. "Shit," he whispered. "Fucking shit." He looked back up at Rachel, meeting her eyes just as desperately as he'd looked at George moments ago. "How could you?" he whispered, his voice strained. "How could you? I told you to watch out for her. Besides that...she's your friend! And instead, you gave more attention to some guy you barely knew-who then tried to drug you, by the way-than you gave to Sophie. I thought she meant more to you than that."
"I'm sorry," Rachel practically wailed, tears coming to her eyes. "She does mean a lot to me. I messed up-I know I did. But let me help. George is right, I know where the Proctor house is. I remember and I can get us there. Let me fix this."
"You do owe Sophie that much," Fred snapped. "But back to our earlier point. Can you stand? Can you Apparate without vomiting? And are you sure you remember where the house is? And remember it clearly?"
"Yes, I can stand," Rachel said. "Not sure about the Apparating without vomiting bit, but I am sure about the house. Want to know why?" She smiled deviously before clumsily reaching for her bag, lying on the floor by the toilet. She dug through it before pulling up a crumpled and folded square of paper. She shakily held it out to George. "The map," she announced with a proud smile.
"You stole it from the library?" George asked, unfolding the map to its full size as he studied it.
"No, I used a duplication spell," she said. "I thought we might need a copy of the map. I figured Sophie and I would go together at some point. I never pictured these circumstances. I swear."
"Why didn't you tell us you had this before?" Fred asked. "Would've saved us a whole lot of time."
"Hey, I am wasted," Rachel said. "As you so kindly pointed out. I can't remember everything."
"You've done wonderfully so far," George said, folding the map and pocketing it as he stood up.
"I personally don't think she needs our praise," Fred said with a scoff as George rolled his eyes.
"If we have this map, we don't even need Rachel to come with us," he said. "We don't have to worry about transporting her or having her vomit or be unstable during a possible confrontation. We can just bring her back to the hotel and let her sleep it off."
"We don't have the time, George!" Fred cried. "As it is, Sophie may already be dead! Besides, Rachel wanted to help, didn't she? Her handing us a map isn't enough."
"Will you stop trying to make her pay?" George asked.
"No, because she deserves to!" Fred yelled. "Because of her, Sophie is in danger! As I said, she could be dead by now as far as we know." He felt his hands trembling and he clenched them into fists. "I can't, George-I can't. I can't..." He kept trying to start and finish the sentence, but he couldn't. And George understood immediately. He always did.
"I know," he whispered. "We're trying to do the best we can. We have done the best we can. And we're not done yet. But we can't leave Rachel here. Not by herself."
"Let her hang with her new pal Hannah for a bit longer," Fred muttered. When George shot him a look, he scoffed. "Fine, then please just allow us to split up this time. You go help Rachel. I'll take the map and go find Sophie."
"I don't know, Fred..."
"If anything happens, you'll know about it because the bracelets will go off. And then you can immediately leave and come find me. But I'll be fine. I think I can handle one Muggle guy who can't even use magic."
"He's potentially got some help," George pointed out. "If Sophie's hunch is correct, he could have recruited those guys that attacked Ginny. They could have come back here once they attacked her."
"And even if the three of us stuck together, we'd be outnumbered," Fred pointed out.
"Which is one more than it would be with just you."
"Then you can alert everyone back home for backup in that case," Fred said impatiently. "Come on, George."
"Fine," George said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the map before handing it to Fred. "You take this. I'll bring Rachel back to the hotel and stay with her. You go get Sophie. Just...be careful, Fred. I know you're worried about losing anyone else, but don't forget, if I—we—lost you..."
"I know," Fred whispered. He gave George a grateful smile and turned to go, but Rachel stopped him.
"Wait, Fred, one more thing." She slipped Sophie's bracelet off her wrist and handed it to him. "Give it back to her. Just in case. You might get separated or something. Anything can happen. You never know."
Fred took the bracelet and gave Rachel a tight lipped smile. He hadn't quite forgiven her yet, but he knew deep down how terrible she felt. "Thanks, Rachel," he said. And then he was gone, rushing out of the bathroom and the front door to the pub.
It seemed like forever had passed since Eric had left. My mother and I hadn't gotten very far in developing a plan of action. We couldn't even use our hands much at the moment, and we obviously had no wands. Eric had also tied lengths of rope around our waists and then tied the other ends to hooks on the wall. It gave us some room to move around, but not enough to go up the stairs.
We were currently looking through Elizabeth's grandmother's spell and potions books-awkwardly and slowly due to our bound wrists-for anything that might be able to help us. Again, the chances were slim because we had no wands and there weren't many potion ingredients left down here, but it was worth a try. We'd also already tried to find something-anything-sharp that could be used to cut through our ropes. The only things available were the broken pieces of glass and wood from the shelf I'd destroyed earlier, but of course all of the pieces were just out of our reach.
Suddenly, there was the sounds of footsteps from above and my mother and I shoved everything away as quickly as possible and returned to the side of the room we'd started on.
A moment later, the bricks at the top of the stairs were sliding away and Eric came down the stairs not long after.
"Your friends are back in town," he announced sharply, glancing at me.
"Fred and George?" I breathed. I could feel my face lighting up in hope. They'd felt the bracelets heat up and had come back. They'd probably found Rachel. My heart sunk a little knowing they'd have also found out what I'd done. They would have thought the bracelets were heating up because of me and would have hurried all the way back to find their bracelets led them to Rachel and that I was nowhere to be found.
"They found the girl at the bar," Eric went on. "I got there not long before they showed up and left soon after. She's in pretty bad shape so I think they'll have their hands full looking out for her for a bit." He laughed to himself almost gleefully. "What a mess. I can't even believe how easy it was to get her to loosen up." He looked at me. "And you call her a friend? She had one job—to look out for you—and she failed miserably. She chose hanging out with a guy over you. A guy that wasn't even really himself tonight. Not that she would know that considering she barely knows him at all. And she still chose him-me, really-over you."
I scowled at him, but didn't respond. I even avoided looking at him. I knew if I did, I'd just end up becoming even more angry.
Just then there was a quiet thud from upstairs followed by the sound of a floorboard creaking. Everyone's head snapped up and I knew everyone's ears had perked up as well.
"Sophie?" I heard the muffled voice from above and my heart skipped a beat. "Sophie...are you in here?"
"Fred," I whispered, a hopeful smile lighting up my face as I scrambled to my knees. But then I looked back at Eric, who was already looking at me. My heart sank. "No," I whispered, shaking my head. "Please...no."
Eric simply smirked before heading towards the stairs.
"No!" I screamed. I got up and rushed forward as far as the ropes would allow me. I nearly fell over as the rope around my waist pulled tight, but I steadied myself and continued pulling at the rope as I screamed. "Fred!"
"He can't hear you," Eric snarled. "The room has all kinds of magic protection spells around it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a very sharp and very pointy knife. He pointed it at me. "The only time he'll be able to hear you is when the bricks open. So keep your pretty mouth shut and we won't have any issues, okay?" And then he turned and started up the rest of the stairway. I heard the bricks start to move, and Eric slip out of the stairway into the kitchen.
"Fred!" I screamed desperately, ignoring Eric's order to keep quiet. "Fred!" My voice came out loud and borderline hysterical, the pain and fear that I felt coming out in my scream of that one syllable.
I heard movement before the sound of Fred's voice floated down the stairs. "Sophie? Sophie!"
I heard a loud thump-I assumed the sound of Fred lunging for the doorway to the basement. But then there was the sound of rushing footsteps as Eric lunged out of the stairway and towards Fred.
"Stupefy!" Fred yelled. There was a crashing sound and a series of thuds. I heard footsteps moving and floorboards creaking slowly for a second before there was a rapid set of footsteps and an even louder crash than before. I heard Fred cry out in pain and I started struggling harder against the ropes, barely feeling the pain from them scraping against my wrists.
"No! He's going to kill him!" I screamed, struggling and pulling as hard as I could, half hoping that if I pulled hard enough, the rope would break. Finally, I just sunk to my knees as I tried to calm my rapid breathing and swallow the lump in my throat.
"Sophie," my mother pleaded. "You're only going to hurt yourself that way. It's no use."
"I don't care!" I cried.
The thumps and yells from above continued for a bit longer and I heard Fred cry out in pain again before everything suddenly stopped. I heard some murmuring in low voices, one of them threatening and slightly louder-Eric's-and the other really quiet, which must've been Fred's. The voices continued for a bit before they finally stopped too. All was quiet for a few moments more before I heard footsteps again. And then the sound of the front door shutting. What had just happened?
A moment later, the sounds of the bricks clinking against each other floated down the stairs and I heard Eric's footsteps coming back down into the room.
"What did you do to him?" I asked angrily, my voice coming out raw and hoarse. "Where is he? Where's Fred?"
"He's gone. Probably halfway back to London by now."
"What?" I spat.
Eric dropped a torn piece of parchment in front of me. I recognized it as a piece torn from the guestbook upstairs. People would sign their names and write where they were from. I reached for it, awkwardly, considering my hands were tied up. Even before I'd lifted it towards the light, I could see Fred's narrow and small handwriting covering one side.
Sophie-I can't do this anymore. Ginny's attack made me see just how much is at stake here. I have to stay in England and protect my family. They come first. Always have and always will. I can't lose another family member like I lost Percy-because of something I did. Helping you puts my family at risk. I thought I could handle it, but I can't. I need to be there if something happens again so that I'll be able to protect them. George and I came to get Rachel and let her know so that she can come back with us. I also wanted to tell you in person, which is why I came looking for you. I thought I owed you that much. I have to get home and I had to make a choice. I hope you understand. -Fred
I read the note twice before I spoke. "Fred didn't write this." My voice was breathless as I looked up at Eric.
"That's his handwriting, isn't it?"
"Yes, but...he wouldn't-"
"He wouldn't what?" Eric asked with a raised eyebrow. "Protect his family?"
I hesitated. Of course Fred would protect his family. I knew that. I'd always known that. Especially given how Fred has felt about Percy. That guilt would make him try twice as hard to protect his family from any danger. For a moment, I wondered if he had in fact wrote the note. But it just didn't make sense. The note had been written here. On a page form from the guestbook. Why would Fred write it now instead of beforehand? Unless he had planned originally to talk to me face to face.
I shook my head. No, that didn't make sense either. Fred still wouldn't have left the note with Eric of all people to give to me. No matter what the note said, Fred wouldn't come all the way out here looking for me, only to willingly leave after giving Eric this note. And willingly leave also knowing I was in danger. He just wouldn't. I'd heard him calling my name. I'd heard the fear in his voice. Hadn't I?
"Sophie, Sophie, Sophie," Eric sighed. "How naive of you to think he wouldn't put family first. You are just some girl who only showed up in his life mere months ago. Why would you ever think he would choose you over them? Or maybe you're thinking he would never leave you?"
"He wouldn't," I argued. "He promised me he wouldn't."
Eric clucked his tongue. Mock sympathy was filling his voice now as he spoke. "That's rather foolish to believe that, don't you think? You know more than anything that people lie all the time. People leave all the time. Even if they say they care about you."
I gritted my teeth and swallowed. For so long, I'd believed that. I'd believed people lied all the time. I believed people either said or showed they cared only to disprove the words with their actions. I'd thought every display of love or affection could fall to pieces in a second. But I didn't believe that any more. Not after all the love and support I'd constantly been showed back in London. Back home. Fred, George and Rachel had even come with me to Salem. They'd been telling me all along they would, and they actually had. Tom and Martha had let me live with them when I'd been nothing more than a starving, homeless stranger. The Weasleys had put their home back under protection spells and their family in danger just to protect me and keep me safe. Fred and George had shown up time and time again to help me and befriend me. They had all shown me that I was loved and cared for and just worth it.
I glared back up at Eric. "You know, I also know now that there very well could be more to every story. Thanks to you. I thought my own mother didn't want me, but that wasn't the case. You just happened to interfere and contribute to that belief. And you don't get to do that to me anymore. You don't get to manipulate me into believing Fred doesn't care about me."
"There's no need for manipulation," Eric said. "The proof is right there, quite literally in black and white." He pointed to the note.
"I don't know what you did to get Fred to write this, but I don't believe it for a second."
"Ah, well," Eric said dismissively. "Maybe you'll believe this." He seemed to ignore my scowl as he reached into his pocket and pulled something else out. "If you don't believe that Fred wrote that letter, here you go." He tossed the object at my feet and my eyes went wide as Eric continued. "He said he was returning this to you." He chuckled. "Clearly it meant something to both of you, but now that he's gone and is leaving you here to rot, he's showing how little your little gift meant by returning it."
I didn't answer as I picked up the bracelet and clasped it tightly in my fist. That's when I knew for sure that Fred hadn't left me for good and that Eric was lying. Fred wouldn't return the bracelet otherwise. He wanted me to put it on so he'd be able to find me. And it also meant that he had found Rachel and that she was okay as well. As much as having the bracelet back had kept some flicker of hope alive inside of me, I didn't put it on just yet. Fred knew where I was and Eric knew that too. As much as he may have believed Fred was taken care of, he probably wouldn't keep my mother and I in the same place. I didn't even know what Eric had said or done, but I knew Fred had left-I'd heard him. So I thought it would make sense to keep the bracelet to put on in the event my mother and I were moved. I could only assume Fred had a plan. If he left, he must have had a reason. I knew he wouldn't just leave me here without a fight otherwise. And I didn't want to prematurely lead him back here if I wouldn't be here much longer. So I slipped the bracelet into my pocket for now, where I planned to let it stay until I either defeated Eric on my own, or I really needed it. Whichever came first.
"He also wanted me to give you this," Eric went on. "He said it was another return." He held out a small box. "He said it was something else you gave him that he no longer wants. Didn't even open it."
Slowly, I took the box and turned it over in my hands. Obviously, I hadn't given anything to Fred, so this was either another one of Eric's tricks, or it was Fred trying to be sneaky again like he had with the bracelet. It could have been something he thought would be useful.
"Are you going to unwrap it?" Eric asked.
I shrugged. "You just said it was a return, so why should I?" I definitely wasn't going to open it in front of him. Just in case it was something from Fred that Eric shouldn't be seeing.
"Well, luckily, I took the liberty of opening it already," Eric said. "Just to make sure it wasn't something that would help you escape." He shrugged. "But it's useless, so I don't see any harm in you having it."
I looked up at him, stunned. I couldn't ask him what it was-he was under the impression that I already knew. I was confused, to say the least. Fred was up to something. He had to be. I was just trying to figure out what. I wanted nothing more than to open the box, but I managed to hold back for now.
"Well, in any case," Eric said, "it's still a reminder that Fred doesn't want a thing to do with you anymore." He smiled. "So when you're finally dead, it'll be like you simply vanished into a puff of smoke without leaving a trace behind."
I clenched my jaw. I wanted to argue with him. I wanted to tell him Fred cared about me. But instead, I decided to play along with his little scheme. I hoped that maybe if he thought I was believing him and being more obedient, he'd let his guard down and I'd be able to escape somehow. "You were right," I said, "I just didn't think Fred would leave me. I just thought that's why he came here-to save me. Not say goodbye. Clearly, I was foolish."
"How many times do I have to tell you?" Eric asked roughly grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him. "You aren't worth it."
I managed to pull myself out of his grip, awkwardly toppling backwards from my perch on my knees as I did so.
"In any case," Eric went on, "I told him I'd pass along the message. So I'm simply the middle man here." He shrugged innocently.
I fought the urge to roll my eyes and ask him if that was before or after the physical altercation that had happened upstairs. Honestly, did the man think I was dumb and hard of hearing? Things just weren't adding up.
"You two had better get some rest," Eric said, making himself comfortable across the room, against the opposite wall from my mother and I. The perfect spot to keep an eye on us. "We've got a big day tomorrow."
"Doing what?" I asked as I made my way back to the wall my mother was sitting in front of.
"That's for me to know and you to find out. I've spilled enough secrets for one night. Now be a good girl and stop asking so many questions."
I leaned back against the wall and let out a deep sigh as I turned my head slightly and looked at my mother. She half-smiled at me and silently mouthed, "We're going to get out of here."
I was right in suspecting Eric was going to move us somewhere else. Early the next morning, before the sun had risen-which came only in the span of a few hours, actually-he was dragging my mother and I to our feet by the ropes and shoving us up the stairs. I stumbled a few times on the rickety wooden steps and he only shoved me harder.
He brought us from the Proctor house to the house we used to live in when I was in foster care. The two story yellow house with white trim stood on a narrow side street close to the center of town. The house had a small garden to the side but it was now overgrown and almost spooky looking. Before, it had been one of my chores to keep the garden looking nice and I'd done a good job of it, too. But in everyone's absence from the house, it now looked a mess.
Eric noticed it too and jabbed me roughly in the back. "Look what happened to that nice little garden because of you."
I squirmed away from him and gritted my teeth together, trying to keep my mouth shut. He probably didn't deserve me even trying to be cordial to him. But I also wanted to keep myself alive long enough to get out of here.
Once we were inside, Eric locked the door and turned back to me and my mother. "I'm going to untie you," he said. "And then the two of you are going to get to work, starting with cleaning the house from top to bottom." He looked around and shrugged. "It's gotten very dirty in the time we've been away."
"What?" I asked. "You mean you brought us back here to be some kind of servants?"
Eric shrugged. "It's what your filthy rotten ancestor was," he said. "And what she should have remained, had she not run away and taken the murderous freak of a child with her. You know, it's funny, she became a servant to escape death, but I am just going to kill you two anyway."
"And when do you plan on doing that?" My mother asked. "How long are you going to drag this on for?"
"All in good time, my dear," Eric said. "Anyway, once you're done cleaning the house, you will then move on to the garden outside. All under my supervision, of course. But just in case, protection spells will be going up around this house any moment now to keep you two inside. If either of you try to leave, you'll be zapped with a shock of electricity. Almost like one of those electric fences people use for their dogs," he sneered. "And if anyone tries to come in, they'll only make it as far as the front door before the doorknob does the same thing to their hand."
"How are you managing to put these up?" I asked.
Eric shrugged. "I've got some help," he said. "Your mother isn't the only one working for me, you know. Especially since she was betraying me. I had to find some new allies."
"What?" my mother asked. "Who?"
"None of your business," Eric said.
"You're bluffing," I said.
"If you think so, feel free to try running. See what happens. Besides, who do you think attacked your friend's sister?" When I didn't answer, he smirked and looked at my mother. "Now why don't you be a good little witch and get started on cleaning the house?"
"No," my mother said defiantly. She tried to aim a kick at him, but he grabbed my arm and roughly yanked me in front of him. I flinched at the rough contact, but he didn't notice or care. He pulled out the knife he'd wielded at me the night before and held it to my neck, yanking my head back by my hair. I cried out in pain and my mother winced.
"Try that again and she dies," Eric said.
My mother stepped back slightly and Eric sized her up before shifting the knife against my throat and pressing it in harder. "I mean it."
My mother continued to stare at him, backing up a few more steps and stopping. Another few seconds ticked by and then she acted suddenly. She picked up a vase that sat on the entryway table and flung it straight at Eric's head. He let go of me as he dove out of the way to protect himself. I also dove to the ground to avoid getting hit in his place, and once I was on the floor, I pushed myself as far away from him as I could. The vase sailed over us and smashed against the opposite wall, the pieces raining down to the floor.
Eric moved quickly, though, and came back for me. He grabbed me by the ankle, the knife glinting in his hand as he yanked me towards him. It was just like the nightmares I'd had so many times where he caught up to me in the woods and I had fallen to the ground. I was almost sure this was going to be the end and he was going to kill me almost the exact same way that he did in my worst dreams.
I let out a scream and tried to fight him as he grabbed my hands-which were still tied at the wrists-and pushed them to the ground above my head as he drove the knife straight into the side of my thigh. I screamed again in sheer pain as he stood up and pulled me to my feet as well as he faced my mother.
"You think I'm messing around?" Eric roared, panting slightly as he jabbed the knife at her. "You will do as I say or the knife will go into her chest next!"
I noticed my mother trembling as she took a deep, shaky breath. "Fine," she said tearfully. "Just let her go. Please, let her go."
Eric was quiet for a moment. Finally, he shoved me forward again. I stumbled a few steps forward, trying not to put weight on my injured leg. Immediately, my mother was at my side, helping me stand, while Eric looked at the ground disapprovingly. I followed his gaze to see there were drops of blood on the floor from my leg.
"Look at that," Eric said. "You're getting blood all over the place." He looked back up at us. "Go upstairs and stop that bleeding and then take care of this mess. And after that, get started on the rest of the house. And then, by that time, I'm sure I'll be positively famished, so you'll have to find something to prepare for dinner. And finally, I'm sure you'll find the basement quite comfortable to spend the rest of your evening." He smiled before shooing us up the stairs. "Go on, we don't have all day."
I looked at my mother helplessly and she gave me a grim smile before guiding me by the elbow up the stairs.
I'd gotten my wand back and had unlocked the basement door. I was running up the stairs, dashing towards the front door of the house, flinging it open with all my might and letting it bang back against the wall. I hopped down the front steps and ran towards the property line, waving my wand and dismantling the protection spells as I went. I was running faster than ever, my breath coming in short gasps as I neared the street. There were heavy footsteps behind me, but that only pushed me to run faster. I ran and ran and made it halfway down the street before I was grabbed by the hair and yanked backwards before being pushed to the ground.
I rolled over to see Eric above me. He swung his arm and brought the knife in his hand down into my leg. I screamed as he pulled it out and stabbed it next into my arm. I screamed once more as my vision went white with pain. I closed my eyes and when I opened them again it was Fred above me instead of Eric, holding the knife and looking at me in pity.
"Eric was right you know," he whispered. "How could you think I'd care about losing you after only a few short months? I don't care if I lose you, as long as I can keep my family safe. They come first. You could never mean that much to me and you're naive to think so. Everything I said to you was a lie and kissing you was a mistake. Both times. In fact, it's pathetic to know how much that kiss meant to you-how much you enjoyed it. Pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. And I just wanted to see the look on your face as I said it to you in person."
"Fred," I sobbed as I felt my heart break. Hearing him say that was almost more painful than the knife wounds to my arm and leg. "Please."
"You really think what we have is genuine affection, huh?" Fred asked with a sneer. "You grew attached to one of the first people to show you kindness in years. That's all it is-an unhealthy attachment. And that's what I felt in return. An attachment to someone who didn't judge me about my past-but your past is worse than my own. I can't get involved with that. You're entirely too messy for me, Sophie. I know that now. And I'll be glad to get rid of you."
"No...Fred," I cried. "Please. You don't mean that."
"Oh, but I do," he sneered. And then he brought the knife down directly into my stomach.
I sat up with a shriek, panting heavily as I trembled from head to toe. I scrambled back against the basement wall and brought my knees to my chest as pressed my face into them and sobbed.
"Sophie? Sophie, honey..."
I felt someone sit next to me and a moment later arms wrapping around me as someone stroked my hair. My mother. I stiffened slightly, but didn't push her away as I continued to cry.
"Oh, Sophie," she said gently, "I know. I know. We'll get out of here soon, don't you worry."
"How can you say that?" I sniffled, lifting my head up and looking at her. I rested my elbow on my knee and my head on my hand as I shook my head. "Every time we try, he makes it harder. And that's what every nightmare is about, you know. Me trying to escape and failing because he catches up to me."
"Sounds like this one involved Fred," my mother said.
I frowned. "How do you know?"
"You were saying his name in your sleep," she said. "At first it sounded like you were just crying out for him, but then after a bit it sounded like you were pleading with him."
I didn't answer right away as I sniffed again and lifted my head off my arm, staring straight across at the drab, cement basement wall ahead of me. "Eric caught up to me first in the dream. Stabbed me in the arm and the leg. Then suddenly it was Fred. He told me Eric was right and that he never cared about me. That all anything we had was an unhealthy attachment to each other because we each thought the other person would be the one to fix our problems. But he said I was too messy for him and he couldn't live with that. He couldn't move forward that way. He said he wanted me gone. And then he stabbed me in the stomach."
My mother was quiet for a moment. "Well...it's probably not any consolation whatsoever, but it was just a dream. It wasn't real."
I shrugged.
"It wasn't," my mother insisted. "That is not the way that boy feels about you."
"How could you possibly know that?" I scoffed.
"Do you think the crap story Eric fed to you at the Proctor house made a bit of sense?" she asked with a snort.
I hesitated. "No, I don't," I said truthfully.
"Exactly," she said. "I understand that I don't know this boy at all, and that I really barely even know you anymore." She winced. "But why would Fred do all he's done to help you back in London, then come here with you to Salem, spend days here trying to help you, only to suddenly leave you and never want to see you again over a little danger? If he was that worried about his family, he wouldn't have helped you at all. I'm sure you warned him how dangerous it was."
"I did," I whispered. "Several times."
She nodded. "And he didn't care, did he? He doesn't scare easily, either."
I snorted. "That's what he said as well."
My mother smiled slightly. "The boy runs a joke shop for Merlin's sake. He chased after me that day I showed up and demanded answers from me. He chased after me the other day on the boat and once again demanded answers. For you. He immediately ran to help you that day Eric was disguised as the man in Diagon Alley and tried to rob you. He's not afraid of any danger."
I swallowed. "I kissed him, you know," I said, still looking straight ahead at the wall in front of me. "Not that I have much to compare it to, but I liked it. A lot. What if it really didn't mean a thing to him? He got his own heart broken and-"
"Well then he knows exactly how it feels, doesn't he? He shouldn't want to do it to someone else, especially if they're in more of a fragile state than most might be."
I snorted. I hated the thought of being fragile. It was something I never imagined being. I didn't want to be fragile.
My mother laughed at my expression. "I said a more fragile state, Soph. In the sense that you've been through a lot. But you've also managed to keep your head above water, so you're also very strong." She paused. "Anyway, I'd think that Fred also wouldn't want to feel that again himself," my mother went on. "So why start something he doesn't plan on seeing through?"
I shrugged. "I don't know."
"Remember what you said yesterday after I told you the truth about your father?"
"Yeah, I said he's an asshole," I answered.
"Well, so is Eric," my mother said curtly. "In fact, he's more than an asshole. You know this. This is what he does. He's learned how to physically overpower people who have wands and magic and he's learned how to anticipate their every move. He doesn't have the benefit of using magic, so he works mentally and physically. He gets in everyone's head. And he's good at it."
"People leave all the time," I said. "That's what I've had to deal with my entire life."
"Yet you told Eric that you now knew there could always be another side to the story," my mother pointed out. "People don't always leave by choice. I didn't and you know that now. And that teacher and your friend from school-" She broke off as I winced. "They didn't leave you by choice. And neither did that other boy-Noah."
"Yeah, because Eric killed them."
"Exactly. It shouldn't have happened, but Eric just wants you to feel alone and isolated. Like I said, that's how he operates. By weakening people mentally. Getting in their head. Making them feel hopeless. So then he can feel stronger and have some kind of advantage in every situation." She shook her head. "We can't let him do it anymore. If we want any kind of chance of getting out of here, we can't let him have that kind of control over us. I know it's hard. But I know you don't believe what he told you about Fred leaving on his own. You know that boy better than I do, so tell me...do you trust him?"
I closed my eyes and inhaled. "Yes."
My mother smiled slightly. "You never opened that box he gave you. It wasn't a return of a gift you gave him, was it?"
I shook my head. "No, it wasn't."
"See?" My mother said eagerly. "He's got something up his sleeve. There's more to the story than Eric said."
I was quiet again as I reached into my pocket and pulled out the box. My fingers brushed against the bracelet, but I held back from taking that out as well. I wanted to tell my mother about it, but didn't want her to tell me to put it on and let Fred come help us. I knew the house had charms up around it, and I also knew that it wouldn't stop Fred from getting in if he truly wanted to, but a part of me was still hesitant. Despite all the confusion I was feeling, I knew my mother was right. I knew something was wrong with Eric's story. It didn't add up. Fred would be here in a heartbeat if I put that bracelet on-it was why he gave it to me. His intentions couldn't be more obvious. But I still couldn't do it. I wanted the help, of course. I wanted to get out of here, but I cared about Fred too much to put him in danger. However, at the same time, I couldn't help but wonder if that had to mean that I suffered because of it. If I let myself feel hopeless, I didn't have a shot, like my mother had said. If I didn't accept help, did it imply that I thought I wasn't worth saving? That's what had to change. I had to consider myself worth it. If I sat here and felt sorry for myself and gave up when my own escape plans didn't work, then I was pathetic, just like the Fred in my dream had told me.
Swallowing, I pulled open the box in my hands. When I saw what was inside, I let out a breath of laughter.
"What is it?" My mother peered over my shoulder at the dark blue and black box and read the label. "Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder?"
"It's a product from the twins' joke shop," I said. I then noticed there was something taped to the bottom of the box. I flipped it over and saw a Puking Pastil and a Nosebleed Nougat both taped there, as well as another note. I gently removed the note and unfolded it to see another message scrawled in Fred's handwriting.
Firstly, because I know you're wondering, I charmed the items in this box to look like a bottle of ink when Eric opened it-because I knew he would. Otherwise, I knew he wouldn't give it to you like I told him to. I made it seem like I was returning something to you, along with the bracelet because I had to get them to you somehow.
If you're going to be too damn proud, stubborn and protective to put that bracelet on and let me come to help you in person, at least let me help you the only other way I know how. But for the record, if you want someone to prove they care about you and that they mean it, you have to let them. You can't say you're afraid of someone leaving you if you never let them stay. I know that's essentially your whole self-preservation plan, but, Sophie, I want you to open the door and let me in. I want to stay. Let me prove it to you. -Fred
I chewed on my lip as I read the note, swiping away a tear that had trailed down my cheek. You already have proven it, I wanted to tell him. More than you know.
I looked over and saw my mother watching me. With a sigh, I handed her the note and let her read it. She did so with a slight smile on her face before she handed the note back to me. "So, what do you think?" She asked curiously.
I sniffed and quickly dried my eyes as I took in a breath to compose myself. "I think," I said, "that we're getting out of here."