Cold breeze pressed on my skin, the sound of crickets and other forest creatures grew louder and more menacing in the darkness, faceless everywhere in their ever still form and last but not least Nolan stood, smiling and waving at me.
"How did he know?" I thought.
"I can't believe you thought I wouldn't know," he said like he could read my mind.
I took one step back "don't run from me now, we both know how that is going to end," he said as he strolled towards me. He stretched out his hand gesturing for me to give him the phone. I put my hand behind my back and started brain storming on what to do.
"Why did you save me when aunt Dahlia tried to drown me?" I asked, trying to stall for time.
He smirked and put his hand down "fine, I'll play along while you think of what to do, I saved you because you are my daughter" I cringed after hearing that. "Don't make that face, I'm the only one that gets to take your life".
"You need help because you are clearly sick in the head" I said, my voice trembling with shock.
Nolan tilted his head, almost amused. "Want me to tell you a secret?, Your dad left because you weren't his. It's that simple. I'm surprised you didn't know—or maybe you just didn't want to know." His eyes stayed locked on me, waiting for a reaction. "You only started treating me differently when your mum and I decided to get married."
"Why did you kill her?, Why are you messing with aunt Dahlia?, Why are you doing all of this?",
"Because they're dumb. They're not like us. Your mum was born with a silver spoon and thinks she can do whatever she wants. And Dahlia? She's just a jealous bitch. You and I— we're different."
"I thought you were doing all of this for money"
He gave a cold, dry laugh "you're slow," he said, each word deliberate. "But I can fix you. Delaney did this to you—she raised you wrong. And if you fight me on this I'll break you until you are right."
"You still see things after that coma. I watch you stare into nothing, like you don't even know where you are. But I can take care of you. You don't want Dahlia, right? I'll take care of her too. Just tell me what you want. What would it take to make you come with me?
His mouth curved in something that wasn't quite a smile.
"At first, I wanted to kill you. But then I realized—we're the same. And I won't let you grow up like me, surrounded by slow, stupid people. I'll make it better, I'll make you better. Just give me the phone…and come with me."
My eyes drifted behind him: a ten-foot, emaciated body draped in fur, a deer-like face with empty sockets. Staring at the faceless had seemed easy before — now looking at this creature again in real life made my chest go ice-cold. I knew it wasn't real. I kept chanting in my head, it's not real, it's not real, but saying it was one thing and believing it was another.
Nolan noticed. He snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Hey—eyes on me. Focus."
He stepped closer and leaned in, voice flat. "You need therapy. Now just give me the phone and everything will be fine. I'm running out of patience."
"What about the foster home?" I asked.
He shrugged like it was boring. "I changed my mind. The foster home was a decoy for Dahlia. But I don't want her anymore. Dahlia's too impatient — if she knew that I planned to keep you, she would've tried to get rid of you, like when she stabbed you. It was when she tried to hurt you that I decided to keep you."
"You don't know what you want," I spat. "You're confused, indecisive—pretending you're better than everyone else."
Nolan chuckled, low and amused, like I'd told a joke. "Goals evolve," he said. "Strategy doesn't. That's the difference between you and me. My endgame is simple now: my daughter and the inheritance. I don't need to hand you off anywhere. Dahlia?, She's just a variable. Remove the variable, and everything falls into place.
He leaned closer, his tone dropping. "The only reason I'm still explaining this is because it's you. I want you to catch up… or maybe I've just been too lenient with you."
Sirens were still minutes away but the forest was already loud with the Uber driver's voice and the approaching footsteps. I broke free and bolted for the light, cold air hitting my face. Hands gripped me; officers called out, questioning—answers I hadn't prepared for.
I turned, chest heaving, ready to point at Nolan and play the frightened kid. The clearing was empty. No silhouette folding into shadow, no rustle to mark his passage. He was gone. Stories I had cooked up to make sure he gets taken in tonight fell flat on my lips.
"He was just here," I whispered.
"Who? Your accomplice? Did someone force you to steal the car?"
The voices tangled, overlapping, blinding. Hands pulled me one way, cold metal snapped around my wrists, my phone vanished in the shuffle. Sirens, lights, questions — all of it smeared together until the world dissolved into static.
Nolan's name cut through the noise, sharp and final. By the time the blur cleared, I was in his car. My phones were in his hands. And I was going back to the house where my mother was murdered.
"Where's aunt Dahlia?" I whispered as we walked through the living room towards the stairs. He looked at me like I just ate a bug "You remembered her earlier than expected. She's gone" he said like it was a greeting to say naturally. " What do you mean gone?" He didn't answer and just climbed the stairs and entered the room he shared with my mum.
I walked into my room and suddenly I remembered something. I walked to my bed and sat there casually with the biggest smile on my face. "It's been a long night" I said as I let out a loud sigh of relief. "We been through enough".