Page 58 of Beautiful Prey

In my heart, I knew I couldn’t deny the truth.

My father was a monster.

And he had created one too. Maybe more. Like Emery, there were others out there, their voices silent. Out of the twenty-two, eight had survived.

Numbed now, I went to Subject Twenty-one. Emery’s sister. Nina. Not that I needed more pain to shock me, but she was important to him, and I felt compelled to check her, see what really became of her.

I pulled up the record and opened it. The picture sprung up before me, and I gasped.

Iknewher.

The photo must have been taken after the video of her and Emery together because she looked older. She looked frail and gaunt, her head now shaven, her eyes sunken in. I wouldn’thave recognized her from the childhood photo I had as the same person. But I knew her now from my memory.

The girl I had encountered in the warehouse.

She had been so scared she could only mumble something to me, her eyes wide. She looked drugged, so I thought she had broken in.

So I had screamed. And my dad had come running.

He had lied to me. He made me leave so he could force her back downstairs.

It had been my fault.

Memories flooded back and I was dragged down by them. I felt everything and nothing all at once.

Panicked, I grabbed my coat and slipped out into the dark.

It wasn’t until dawn that I eventually came back. I let my coat fall to the floor, then sluggishly made it to the bed, falling down on it. I had reached the bridge of St. Agnes when I was forced to walk back. I walked along the beach. Sometimes I stopped to hurl a rock in the lake and scream. Sometimes I took a seat on some dry log and cried a little. Mostly angry tears. I cursed my father. My brother, uncle, and cousin too. But mostly my father.

That sadistic fuck. How could he do this?

And how could he bring me to the warehouse with them still inside. I hated him for it. And I hated myself for not realizing something was wrong.

Now, I knew I could no longer stay. I couldn’t treat Emery, knowing I had kept his sister from her freedom. A coward’s way out. But the guilt was too much. Too much to bear.

And it was so fucked up anyway. I should have never come. Him knowing me like he did now only served to hurt us both.

But I didn’t want him to break down again either. If I left, he would stop the medication, and they would transfer him. That made me feel even worse.

It wasn’t until I saw the first rays of sunlight over the horizon that I came up with an idea. I’d tell him I couldn’t stay and wouldn’t give a reason, that he had to promise to take his meds, and when he was better, I would see him again.

It hurt to go. But it was better than the alternative—him learning who I was and what I had done.

I’d be sure to tell him before Ethan ratted me out. I’d go as soon as I was able.

But now I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. As soon as I woke up, I would go back to St. Agnes one last time and tell him.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I slept nearly twelve hours. From the lack of sleep, my body had to make up for it in some way. It felt more like a punishment.

I dialed the number to the front desk at St. Agnes that evening.

If Ethan answered, I might throw up.

“St. Agnes front desk,” greeted a low voice.

I sighed with relief. “John, you’re back.”

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