The next morning, Andrew woke up alone at the house. Olivia was working the day shift and, despite his offer to watch her, Mia was over at her grandmother’s. So he had the flat to himself as he headed to the shower. As he scrubbed himself in the lukewarm shower spray, Andrew considered how his […]

Noah had fully intended to show everyone that he was back to his old self he was when he got out of the meetings that night. But instead, by the time he got home he was physically and emotionally exhausted. Olivia had invited him back down for pizza after he got home, so as soon […]

Noah woke up early, looking up in an unfamiliar morning light. Wakeup time at the clinic had been seven-thirty am and by the end of his stay there, Noah had been getting up even earlier. So he wasn’t surprised to glance at his watch and see it was six forty-five. What did surprise him was […]

Noah slept on Olivia’s couch that first night home, not ready to be alone in his own apartment yet. He lay awake for a long time, staring up at the ceiling. After six weeks of the noise in the clinic, the quiet living room just felt too silent. Olivia’s door was closed. He knew Mia […]

The crack of thunder and water flooding his ears…his eyes…rushing down his throat and spilling into his lungs as he tried to scream around it. A sick gurgle escaped him, but nothing more as he silently screamed and screamed and- Noah’s eyes snapped open as he took in a gasping breath. For a split second […]

Halloween afternoon, Andrew tried not to keep glancing out the window. It was an hour drive to Worcester, so there was no way Olivia was anywhere near New Winslow yet. It had been a little under two hours since she’d left to pick up Noah. Even if she’d met him in the parking lot and […]

Iris hadn’t done anything more than observe on the fourth floor since the disastrous night she and Olivia Walker had been up here. Sitting on the floor now with her Ouija board, she thought slightly guilty about how she hadn’t checked in with Olivia in a little while. Maybe she should see if there were […]

The timer went off just as the simple syrup on the stove began to boil. Singing along softly to the staticky radio, Olivia went over and flipped off the stove burner. Then she opened the oven and pulled out the cinnamon buns. There was no reason to make anything, no special occasion. But Mia was […]

Cleo took a breath, then hit Call. She held the phone up to her ear, then waited as it rang. Andrew rarely had great service at Olivia’s house, but if he was at work right now, maybe he’d answer. Or maybe he’d see it was Cleo and decide not to bother. There was a click, […]

“So, good news and bad news.” Hugh raised his eyebrows. “That kind of meeting?” Olivia was just coming out of a two-hour one-on-one meeting with Bret. Normally he spent as little time at Keegan’s as possible, but she got the suspicion that he was trying to wrap things up as much as possible here so […]