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He shakes his head, "Eli, she’s alive and safe As parents, you can’t ask for ht to it You let her down once already" I know that pain

He walks aith Stuart When I can’t see them anymore, I pull the phone from my pocket The live strea ho about her lookI haven’t seen before She’s curious or daydrea I would die to knohat it is about Instead, I send a text

‘Sledgehammer and a clean up crew’

‘Already ordered’

If anyone knows the pain of being left behind and forgotten, it’s Stuart He would die, if he too, had a to for Stuart or not She’s there in , and somehow, she fills the void where the white noise and fuzz take away s Most of the the pain to round next to lance up at him, "They okay?"

He shakes his head, "No They called that cop froot the you said They called Dr Bradley after She explained that she’s basically living in a box and doesn’t know it She’s under constant surveillance and safe, and that they need to keep their distance so she doesn’t have all those bad things rush in all at once"

I pass him the phone and pick up the hammer I pull off my jacket and roll up my sleeves

"Don’t wreck any of the other tombs and headstones"

I look at the others and nod, "I’ll try not to"

Chapter Five

Boston - August 2012

"The hallway has cameras and I’ve linked them to the laptop"

I look at him expectantly, "What about the room? I can’t see her in the roo her room, I want that"

Stuart points at ain Dr Bradley says no You need to deal with your shit as much as she needs to deal with hers This is an invasion of privacy already" He seesthis conversation again She and that hot-ass friend of hers, arrive in a couple hours Let’s go"

She’s in the air flying It makes me uncomfortable but Jane forbade me to fly with her She forbade ive a fuck about

Possession, obsession, control, self-destruction

What do I care about those things, when I have the cure so close to

I close the door, following Stuart down the long corridor A man in a janitor uniform passes by us I see Stuart freeze up He has so against the wall I walk faster, looping my arm into his We don’t speak about it He only needs a minute He doesn’t handle janitors We never discuss it We don’t need to

I don’t like elevators, suns

We don’t talk about it

I drive us to the gye

An hour later, both of us are covered in sweat and fully exhausted when he nods at hs when he sees ot all the piss and vinegar out yet I’ll e you when she lands"

I twitch with the want to be there when she lands She needs oing to come and take her away

I feel the white noise and I turn to Angelo, pointing withand knock gloves

I leave the gym two hours later, fresh, clean, and ready to see her in the flesh I want her in Boston, where everything’s new and different I want to go to her; instead, I drive to Jane’s office

I press the elevator and wait I hate waiting I hate Jane I hate what I gave her and the satisfaction that crosses her lips when she seesabout it

I step inside of the elevator and close my eyes

I hate elevators

They make me nervous All small places where the walls creep in and try to touch you Flashes of drawings and triangles, and the dead eyes in the corner, fill my mind Sweat bursts from my skin I can’t wait one e to leap froainst the wood She sives me a look, "I’ve asked you to call me Dr Bradley in the office, please"

I shake my head, "You also asked me to handcuff you to a bed and fuck you senseless so I don’t give a shit, Jane"

Her face twitches but remains the same milky tone She doesn’t blush I’m convinced she doesn’t feel "Sit, we need to talk for a minute"