Page 25 of Castle

“I understand.”

Chris?

Why was his grandpa calling Castle,Chris,and since when did Castle get married?

Or did Devin hide that detail from me, too?

I thought grandpa Hugh had fallen completely off the rocker and talking nonsense like some old people would, but what Castle said next shocked me more.

“I promise you, gramps. Lorna isn’t coming back to this house.”

TEN

Castle didn’t talkto his grandpa after that and the room continued to bask in comfortable silence until he picked a vinyl and played the vintage gramophone. Soft music drifted from the player.

A Himalayan cat I hadn’t noticed before was perched on the bed and staring daggers at me. I exited and went back to my room, deciding to give them privacy.

Theo was right; I didn’t have any business digging into their family history. My main aim was survival and to get out of this house alive and for that I needed to find another way out of here that wasn’t through the woods.

The entire family had left for the party, save for Castle and Senior Montgomery, and an opportunity like this wouldn’t present itself again soon.

First, I went to the kitchen and tried to hack the bracelet off my ankle with a cleaver, but it didn’t work. Clearly, getting the tracker off my leg wasn’t going to happen.

I needed to find another way.

I was going to make sure that Castle was asleep this time, so he wouldn’t follow me when I tried to leave.

Castle brushed his teeth and changed into his pajamas which was usually his night routine before bed. He never felt shy about taking off his undergarments in front of me either, but I usually just looked away because that was common decency and I didn’t think he would appreciate if I ogled if he was in the right frame of mind.

I placed two pills and a glass of water on the nightstand. He usually took them after his meals. I tried to pop one in his mouth but turned his face to the other side, refusing to take them.

“You want to get better, don’t you? If you don’t take your medicines, you won’t get your memories back.”

I pushed a sizable portion of brownie in front of him. Sweets always seemed to work for baiting Castle into taking his medication.

“I made this with Susan.”

He reached forward to take it when I pushed it away from his reach.

“You’ll have the brownie when you take your pills. Those are the rules.”

He huffed, shoved the pills into his mouth, and washed it down with a glass of water. Then, reaching across from me, he grabbed the piece of brownie, unwrapped it and began polishing it off the plate, staring at me in his usual peculiar way. I had to wipe his mouth later with a towel.

Once he got comfortable in his bed, I asked him the question that was bothering me, “Castle, I heard you speak to your grandpa. I was wondering if you started remembering anything.”

He had a toy train in his hand, and he spun the wheels of it with his long elegant fingers. His eyes remained downcast, and the dim light in the room highlighted his sharp jawline.

“Who is Chris?” I asked.

He didn’t answer, and I gave up on asking him questions until he said, “My father.” I placed my finger beneath his chin and forced him to make eye-contact.

“Do you remember him?” The question I really wanted to ask him was ‘Are you pretending to lose your memory?’

He shook his head, “No.”

“Who is Lorna?” He didn’t answer again and started to breathe heavily, his fingers holding the train tightly.

I placed a hand on his shoulders. “Castle.”

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