INICIAR SESIÓNThe Ashford mansion was full of light, but it felt like a cold place. Every room was perfect. The floors were made of white stone that shined like glass. The walls were covered in expensive paintings. But to Lucas, the house felt like a box. A very big, very expensive box where no one told the truth.Lucas stood in front of the tall mirror in his dressing room. He was putting on a black suit. His hands were moving slowly. He hated this suit. He hated the way it felt tight around his shoulders. He felt like he was dressing up to play a part in a movie.He reached into his pocket. His fingers touched the small, blue baby sock. It was soft and warm. It was the only thing in this whole house that felt real. He squeezed it in his hand for a moment.Where are you, Naomi? he thought. Are you cold? Is the baby okay?He didn't even know if the baby was a boy or a girl. He didn't know if the baby was healthy. He pictured Naomi in a small room somewhere, holding a child. In his mind, she was smi
I picked him up. He felt like a hot coal. He opened his eyes, but he didn't see me. They were cloudy. He let out a tiny, weak sound."Mama..." he breathed."I'm here, baby! I'm here!" I was crying. The tears fell onto his hot face.The fear of the shadows outside was gone. The only enemy was the heat in my son's body."We need water!" I told Martha. "Cold water! And the medicine!"Martha ran to get water. I held Leo close. I could feel the heat coming off him. It felt like he was melting away in my arms."Please," I prayed to the dark room. "Take me instead. Take my life. Just let him stay. Please don't take him."We spent the whole night fighting the heat.Martha brought a bowl of cold water. I took the rags and put them on Leo’s head. I put them on his chest. Every time I touched him with the cold rag, he cried. It was a sound of deep pain."I'm sorry, Leo," I whispered. "I have to do this. I have to make you cool."The water turned warm almost immediately because his skin was so ho
The morning light was gray and weak. It crawled across the cold stone floor like a tired animal. I did not sleep. I did not close my eyes even for one minute. My eyelids felt heavy, like they were made of lead. My eyes felt dry and scratchy. But my brain was screaming at me to stay awake. It was telling me that if I closed my eyes, the world would move. If I blinked, the shadows would win.I stayed in the same spot on the bed. My back was against the rough stone wall. It was so cold it made my spine ache, but the pain helped me stay awake. I looked down at Leo. He was a small, soft bundle under the heavy wool blankets. His face was peaceful. He didn't know about the sounds I heard in the night. He didn't know about the shadow I saw at the window. He was just a baby, dreaming of milk and warm hugs."Maybe I am going crazy," I whispered. My voice sounded strange in the quiet room. It sounded thin and breakable, like old paper.I wanted to believe I was crazy. If I was crazy, it meant th
I walked to the window again. I peered through the crack. The mist looked like moving people. I saw a shadow. Then I saw another. My breath became fast. I rubbed my eyes. When I looked again, the shadows were gone. It was just the mist moving in the wind."I am going crazy," I whispered.I sat back down on the bed with Leo. I started to tell him a story. I told him about a beautiful garden where the flowers never died. I told him about a place where there were no stone houses and no cold winters. He listened to my voice and fell asleep. His little head rested on my arm.I stayed like that for hours. I did not move. I did not want to wake him. I just watched the door.Night came. The room became very dark. We only had one small candle and the dying fire. The shadows danced on the walls. They looked like giant hands reaching for us.Martha was sleeping in the corner. her breathing was loud and slow. But I was wide awake. I sat on the edge of the bed. I held Leo.The wind grew louder. It
The mountain was very quiet. It was too quiet. Usually, when I wake up, I hear the birds. I hear the wind playing with the leaves. But this morning, there was nothing. It was a heavy silence. It was the kind of quiet that makes you hold your breath. It was the kind of silence that tells you something is wrong.I sat up in my small bed. The stones of the house were cold. They felt like ice against my skin. The air was gray and thick. In this house, the night stays inside the walls even when the sun is up. I did not move for a long time. I just stayed still and listened.I listened for a car.I listened for a footstep.I listened for a voice.But there was nothing. Only the sound of my own heart beating fast in my chest. Thump. Thump. Thump.I turned my head. I looked at the spot next to me. Leo was there. He was sleeping very deeply. His tiny face was soft. His little hands were curled up like small flowers. He looked so peaceful. He did not know that his mother was afraid. He did not
While Evelyn was angry in the mansion, Naomi was sitting in the dark stone house.The fire was small. Martha had found some old wood, but it was a little bit damp. The smoke smelled like the earth. Naomi sat on a small wooden stool. She was watching Leo. He was sleeping on the bed. He looked very peaceful. He didn't know that his grandmother was trying to steal him. He didn't know that his father was holding a blue sock in a tall tower."He is breathing well," Martha said. She brought a cup of warm water to Naomi. "The air up here is good for him. It is clean."Naomi took the water. Her hands were cold. "Martha, do you think we are safe? I feel like the trees are watching us."Martha sat on the floor next to her. "The trees are on our side, Naomi. The mountain hides the people it loves. The city people don't like the cold. They don't like the mud. They won't stay long.""But they have money," Naomi said. Her voice was very quiet. "Money can buy many things. It can buy people. Like tha
The head maid, Maria, stood in the corner with her mouth open. She looked like she had seen a ghost. The maids always hated Valentina. She used to treat them like dirt. But now, they looked confused."You're peeling potatoes?" I asked again."I’ve realized a lot of things while Lucas was in the ho
No, I told myself sternly. He won't care. He has Valentina now. He has the money. He has his life back.I thought about Abigail. She was the only person who knew I was here. I had called her from a payphone near the train station. She had cried, promising to bring me some money and food tomorrow."
Naomi’s POVThe darkness was not black. It was a strange, heavy gray. I felt like I was underwater, trying to swim to the surface, but the water was made of lead. I could hear voices, but they sounded like they were coming from a long, metal tunnel."She’s waking up! Look, her eyes are moving!"I f
Naomi’s POVThe smell of the hospital was finally behind me.I sat in the passenger seat of Martha’s old, small car. My body felt like it was made of glass. Every bump in the road made me squeeze my eyes shut and hold my belly. I was still in pain, but the doctor had said my blood pressure was stab







