“Fuck this,” I say then toss the book down on the table and make my way out of the room. The hall seems longer than it has before as I head for the grand staircase and the hidden door beneath it.
My pulse pounds in my temples as I place my hand on the scanner to open it. It takes a long moment. “Please open,” I whisper as the jitters flow through me.
It does, the large door slides aside seamlessly, presenting me with a dark kitchen until I turn the lights on.
It’s empty and quiet. The whole world is sleeping while mine crumbles around me. A sudden chill overwhelms me and a split second later the click of the heater makes me jump.
“Carter,” I call out as I walk deeper into the kitchen. My feet pad on the floor and that’s the only sound other than my racing heart. Something’s wrong. I can feel it in my bones.
Wrapping my arms around myself I make my way to the other hall that the kitchen leads to. It’s quiet and dark.
“Anyone,” I call out and my voice strays from me, receiving no answer. “I don’t want to be alone right now.” It’s a hard feeling to accept, when you open yourself up to love and then feel fate toying with taking them from you. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.”
“Bethany?” a voice calls out just as I turn on my heel to walk away.
“Daniel?” I question, fairly sure it’s him and not Jase’s other brother. Someone’s here at least. “Were you sleeping? I’m sorry, I hope I didn’t wake you up.” The sentences tumble from my mouth as he makes his way into the kitchen, also in bare feet and gray pajama bottoms with a white t-shirt tight over his chest. He has to pull it the rest of the way down as he stops at the counter.
“No, you’re fine, I was just lying down with Addison but not sleeping.” There are bags under his eyes, so I know he’s tired. “You okay?”
“Are you?” I ask him, feeling the anxiousness grip my throat.
His expression softens to a knowing look. “It’s hard. Moments like this can be difficult,” he admits and just to hear someone else say what I feel is a slight relief.
“I don’t know how to be okay right now.” Gripping the tips of my fingers to have something to hold, I watch as he pulls out a wine glass and then heads to the cellar.
“Do you like white or red?” he asks and I swallow a small laugh at the implication that the answer is to drink. “Red.”
It’s quiet as he opens the bottle, the dim light from outside glinting off the torn metal wrapper.
“I don’t know what I can do to help.” I emphasize the last word as he gently pushes the glass toward me and then pours one for himself.
He doesn’t answer me; instead he takes a drink and so I do the same, sipping on the decadent wine and feeling guilty that I can.
“I just have a bad feeling,” I finally confess. “It won’t leave me alone and I’m afraid.”
Daniel’s still quiet, but he nods in understanding. I start to wonder if he’ll speak at all until he says, “Let him do what he knows how to do, what he’s good at.”
“That doesn’t–”
“Yes it does. You want to be involved,” he says then looks me in the eyes and that’s when I see the remorse in his. “You want to be there in case something happens.” His voice drops as he tells me, “I know that feeling.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I get to be here with Addison. Don’t be sorry for me. There’s nothing in this situation to be guilty or sorry or resentful over.” He leans forward on the bar before looking over his shoulder down the empty hall. “We do what we’re needed to do,” he says with resolve.
“I don’t know what I’m needed to do,” I admit to him, feeling the weight lift, knowing that’s the core of my problem in so many ways.
“When he brings your sister back, you take care of her. You’re good at that, aren’t you?”
The thought of Jenny being here soon forces me to brace myself on the counter.
“I heard that’s what you do,” Daniel prods, waiting for me to look back at him and I nod.
“Take care of her when she comes back, because that’s something no one else can do. Let Jase do what he does and you do what you do.”
“Even if I’m scared?” I question him in a whisper.
“Can I tell you a secret?” he asks and again I nod.
“We all are. Anyone who tells you they’re not is lying. We live in a world where there’s plenty to be afraid of. It’s okay to be scared sometimes, but have hope. Have faith. Jase knows what he’s doing.”