Page 4 of Burning Your Lies

My mind doesn’t let me dwell on it for too long, because a second, more alarming, realisation dawns on me.

Savannah is alone with him.

I rush out of there, not explaining anything to Mia. I’m back in my car and my foot presses all the way down on the pedal.

“He’s committed murder. And I think I’m next.”

I punch my steering wheel as her words pound my head. I fucking told her she was crazy. I believed his lies. And now she is alone in that house where he was probably … I can’t even finish the thought.

I barely put my car in park before I am running towards the house. My fists pound on the door. “Xavier!”

I hear rushed footsteps before a tortured Xavier appears. His eyes are bloodshot and his hair in array. “She took my daughter! She took her and I can’t find her.” He is crying while I stand there dumbfounded.

“What?”

“Savannah!” He scowls. “She took my daughter. Help me find her, Ray!”

I glance to the side and see both of Savannah’s cars parked. I try to look past him into the house to see if she is inside, but his body blocks the view. My eyebrows furrow at the sight of the red roses that line the floor. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know!” He pulls his hair. “I came home and asked the same question—”

“Not her,” I mumble. The panic inside me has taken away my ability to breathe. “Savannah. Where is Savannah?”

When his eyes meet mine, I understand how I was fooled by him because his anguish looks so believable. He shakes his head. “I know you love her, but she’s troubled, Ray. She needs help. I had to do something before she hurt us.” He leans against the doorframe as if he’s about to fall apart. “But I was too late. She took my daughter.”

Nothing around me exists anymore. I stare at Xavier, but I can’t really see him. When I speak, it’s in a trance. “What did you do?”

“I had to get her sectioned. They’re going to treat her schizophrenia.”

“What?”

“Ray! Where are you going?”

I’m back in my car. I’m driving home. I’m sitting on my sofa. I’m staring at the wall. I’m trying to forget the look on her face when she begged me to save her from him.

And then, I’m crying.

3

Savannah

It’s been six weekssince my imprisonment. Six weeks of being pumped with enough drugs to fry my brain. I am in a constant state of emptiness. It feels like my head is hollow and everything I once felt and knew has all vanished. All I recall is that night.

The police said Xavier didn’t wish to press charges forkidnappingElise. Why would he need to do that when he’s already made me his prisoner? Only Xavier has visited me. Nobody else; not Mia, Jordan, or Huxley.That could only mean one thing: they believed his lies.

“Savannah. It’s time for your one-to-one session with Dr Cooper.”

I don’t want to go, yet I mindlessly follow the nurse through the building that is now my home. She knocks on the door for me and only leaves once I am seated on the chair. I look around the room that is painstakingly white.Just like that house.And like that house, everything is in its place.

“How are you, Savannah?”

I’m dead.

“I understand this is a big change, but this is the best place for you. We are here to help you.”

I don’t need help. I’m not crazy.

“Have you made any friends?”

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