Chapter 13 - EMILY GOES BACK
Three months later, Emily asked to return to Blackwood Manor.
Daniel said no.
She asked again.
“Why?”
“Because I want to see the room.”
Daniel understood immediately.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
Emily held her stuffed rabbit against her chest.
“Because sometimes I dream I’m still there.”
Daniel sat beside her.
“And?”
“If I see it when I’m awake, maybe my brain will understand I can leave.”
Her therapist agreed.
So Daniel took her.
The mansion was empty.
Richard’s assets had been frozen.
Most staff were gone.
The chandeliers remained.
The marble remained.
The portraits remained.
But without people, Blackwood Manor looked less powerful.
Just large.
Emily held Daniel’s hand.
They walked downstairs.
Past the wine cellar.
Through the concealed door.
Then Emily stopped.
The room was smaller than Daniel expected.
One chair.
A narrow cot.
A lamp.
Nothing else.
Emily stood in the doorway.
Her hand trembled.
Daniel crouched beside her.
“We can leave.”
“Not yet.”
She stepped inside.
Daniel followed.
Emily looked around.
“This is where she told me nobody would believe me.”
Daniel swallowed.
Emily walked toward the chair.
“She said grown-ups believe grown-ups.”
Daniel knelt.
“She was wrong.”
Emily looked at him.
“Not completely.”
That hurt.
Because she was right.
Too many adults hadn’t believed what they were seeing.
Emily touched the wall.
Then she turned.
“I’m ready.”
They walked upstairs.
At the front door, Emily stopped again.
Vanessa stood outside.
Daniel stiffened.
“I didn’t invite her,” he said.
Emily looked at him.
“I did.”
Daniel stared at his daughter.
Vanessa remained several yards away.
She didn’t approach.
Emily stepped onto the porch.
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“Hi.”
“Hi, Mommy.”
“I can leave if you want.”
Emily shook her head.
“I wanted to ask you something.”
Vanessa waited.
“Why didn’t you believe me?”
There was no safe answer.
No clever answer.
Vanessa didn’t try to invent one.
“Because believing you would have forced me to admit that people I loved were dangerous.”
Emily stared at her.
Vanessa continued.
“And I was a coward.”
Daniel watched silently.
Emily asked another question.
“Do you believe me now?”
“Yes.”
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
Emily nodded.
Then she walked back toward Daniel.
Vanessa didn’t ask for a hug.
She didn’t ask Emily to stay.
She simply said.
“I’m sorry.”
Emily looked back.
“I know.”
May you like
It wasn’t forgiveness.
But it was the first honest conversation they had ever had about what happened.
