Chapter 17

Cassie’s morning had started on greatly. Maybe she should have known something was very wrong and was going to happen later in the day. She had woken up to the last chime of the grandfather clock in the hallway. Without looking at her phone, she knew it was five o’clock already. Somehow in all her years of living in that house, her body had gotten accustomed to waking her at the fifth chime of the clock; nothing earlier, nothing later. She padded out of the room barefoot, the back of her pajamas slick with the seat. Maybe if she worked really hard, she would soon be able to afford a more functional air conditioner but until then she figured that she would have to contend with waking up in a pool of her own sweat every morning.

She started off with her chores; vacuuming the living room, washing the plates in the sink fr