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I needed to keep a closer eye on Isabel. She wasn’t as stable as she’d first seemed.
Let me tell you a secret. I never killed that little girl. Shhhhh.
“The killer is still out there.”
Just because Isabel is innocent doesn’t mean you get to prioritise her. Treat the others the same.”
Sometime in the middle of the night, the alarm sounded out through Hutton village. The high-pitched blare woke many from their peaceful slumber. Not once in fifty-two years had the alarm rung out. Some didn’t even know what it was about, but many others did, and they knew it meant only one, terrible thing. A patient had escaped from Crowmont Hospital.
“This photograph was taken of your father last week in the high-security hospital where he’s incarcerated.
All this time, I’d been haunted by the man I hated most on the world, and I hadn’t merely conjured him with my broken mind. I befriended him, too.
“The first thing you need to know is: Tom isn’t just my brother. He’s also my son.”
One for sorrow.
“I wish I knew what was real and what wasn’t.” “It’s real to you,” he says. “And that’s what matters, isn’t it?”
When she moves away, I almost miss her hand on my cheek, and then realise how fucked up that is.
Don’t I owe it to him to fight?
“You know what I am, Leah. I’m a god. I turn people into beautiful things.”
“You dragged Maisie into the woods like one of your animals,” I say. “Then you hit her on the head with a rock, removed her clothes, and carved wings into her back. You did it with Owen.” “And now she’s a beautiful bird, not a dirty little girl,” Isabel says triumphantly. “And you,” I say to David. “You knew what your children were, and you did nothing about it.” “My daughter is an artist,” he replies. “A glorious artist.”
No one with an unbroken spirit can truly be a victim. They can hurt you physically and emotionally, but you’re no one’s victim if you remain in possession of your whole self. Of your willpower.
“This has always been inevitable since the first moment we met. I love you, Leah, but we can’t both live, so it’s going to have to be me.”
Half-drowned in shadow, she finally transforms into the wild animal she always wanted to be. For a few precious moments, Isabel is a bird in flight.
deep down I think I’ll always love the dad you once were, and could have been if you’d been a stronger man.”
