Chapter One
I hadn't been able to take a full breath since I left Rochester. The train ride had done nothing to calm me. Instead, the inability to do anything except sit there as the train sped towards Connecticut made me more anxious. A hundred thoughts crowded into my head. I feared that it was too late for my aunt and that I was headed towards tragedy. I wondered what Simon and Sarah would think once they found my note. I was hyper aware of every person in my car, jumping every time someone walked past my seat, convinced that I was about to be attacked.
It was a relief to finally pull into the station. I grabbed my bag and made my way outside, shivering from more than the bitter cold that took my breath away. Morning was still an hour away and the black sky offered no relief from the feeling of foreboding. I couldn't escape the sense of inevitably that I was about to face my mortality, but I had no other choice. I needed to find out what happened to Aunt Brenda. For one brief moment in my life, I had known what it was like to have a family member that cared about me. A family member who had risked her own safety to help me. She deserved nothing less than the same.
A gruff cab driver threw my bag into the trunk and nodded when I gave him the address of my aunt's house. I leaned my head against the seat, feeling fatigue wash over me. The events of the past forty-eight hours had taken a toll on me, both physically and mentally, and I felt bone weary. It was hard to believe how dramatically my life had changed in the span of a few days. It was even harder to come to terms with the fact that I was now being hunted by shadows and I had no idea how to defend myself.
I was grateful when the sun started to rise, washing the fields whizzing by the car window in a hazy glow. It was a deceptively calm ride, but I felt myself tense the closer we got to our destination. My stomach clenched in anxiety when the cab pulled in front of my aunt's house. It looked exactly the same as it had a few days ago, neat and tidy; incongruous with how I expected to find it. I wasn't sure what I was expecting after my aunt's frantic phone call, but it wasn't this peaceful facade.
"Seventeen fifty," the cab driver grumbled, not bothering to look at me. I handed him a twenty and he popped the trunk, clearly not intending to give me change or help me with my bag. I climbed out of the backseat, figuring this was the least of my problems, and grabbed my bag from the trunk before the cabbie sped off.
I took a deep breath as I stood in front of my aunt's house, trepidation oozing from every pore as I braced myself for whatever I would find inside. I forced myself to put one foot in front of the other until I was at the doorstep. I considered ringing the doorbell but decided against it, not wanting to alert anyone I was here, although I doubted anyone, or anything, could have missed the sound of the cab.
I held my breath as I twisted the doorknob, not sure whether I wanted to find it unlocked or not. When the knob turned and I was able to push the door ajar, a frisson of fear went through me. I doubted my aunt kept her front door unlocked. I could only assume that this was a bad sign.
I stepped in, closing the door behind me as I surveyed the foyer. Nothing seemed out of place, no struggle looked to have occurred from my vantage point. I walked into the living room where we had talked earlier, noting that it looked as tidy as before. My confusion increased as I explored the rest of the house, not seeing anything out of order. Could I have been mistaken and my aunt was okay? Had she just stepped out to run a few errands? I checked her garage and saw her car sitting there.
I wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table, contemplating what my next steps should be, when I heard the front door open. I froze, not having heard a car approach or any footsteps on the front steps. I frantically looked around the kitchen, wondering where I could hide, when I heard women's voices. I couldn't make out what they were saying but they didn't sound threatening. Still, I knew better than to take anything at face value and remained at the kitchen table, straining to overhear their conversation.
"I don't know what to do. I'm not picking up any energy."
"Maybe there's no energy to pick up. We don't know exactly what happened."
"Nonsense. You just need to try harder."
The conversation stopped as I watched three women approach, their eyes widening as they caught sight of me. I stood up quickly, not wanting to be at a disadvantage by sitting, although the women looked as dangerous as three bunny rabbits. But I knew that didn't mean much.
"What are you doing here?" a tall woman with long brown hair asked abruptly, her tone expressing her disapproval. The woman next to her, much shorter with graying hair that softly framed a gentle face, put her hand on the taller woman's arm, stopping her from saying more.
"You're Caitlin, aren't you?"
I nodded jerkily, clenching my hands into fists. I was ready to flee at any moment, my muscles tensed to react to any danger.
The woman who guessed who I was rushed towards me and I instinctively took a step back, glancing at the back door in the kitchen. She stopped short, seeing my anxiety at her approach.
"I'm sorry, dear. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm Cecelia, a friend of your aunt's." She paused, glancing back at the other two women who remained where they were. "We're part of your aunt's inner circle."
The third women, younger than the two with black hair and startling green eyes, stepped forward, standing next to the woman who had introduced herself as Cecelia. "Caitlin, I'm Marie. We were going to contact you, but it seems you've made that unnecessary."
Marie reached out, laying a gentle hand on my arm, and I couldn't stop myself from trembling. From fear, relief, sadness and a myriad of other emotions rushing through me.