Page 114 of Savage Scream

I turn and charge for the front door, not even knowing where to look first but knowing I have to start looking regardless, because I’m going to find her and beg her to fucking stay.

I hear my name called by Cynthia and Rhys, but I ignore them, pulling the front door open and screaming at the top of my lungs.

“ELODIE!”

I bolt down the front path and scream again. “ELODIE COME BACK!”

I don’t fucking know what I think I’m going to achieve by doing this. She left over an hour ago so she’s probably long gone by now, but it’s the faint sob I hear from my left that turns my attention that way, and my eyes widen as I take in the small frame of a dark-haired girl wearing a black hoodie and black jeans, sitting on the corner curb three houses down.

“Dee?” I ask, even though she probably can’t hear me from this distance.

She gets up, sobs flying from her as she starts running towards me. I don’t fucking hesitate. I bolt towards her twice as fast, ignoring the calls of the Rogan family behind me. My sight set on the only thing that matters in this moment.

“Dee!” I call, her tear-stained cheeks flushed red as she nears and at the last minute, like the little acrobatic monkey she is, she leaps at me, wrapping herself around me as she crashes to my chest and cries into my neck.

“Fuck. Dee. I thought you’d left.” I squeeze her to me, my arms around her like a vise, never wanting to let go.

She tries to speak, but she’s in such a distressed state that all I pick up is babble.

I hug her tighter, pressing kisses to her hair before another body slams into us, and Rhys speaks into Dee’s ear.

“Don’t leave us. We want you to be a part of our family.”

“We all want you here,” I add, holding her tight and not willing to let her go. “You are ours and we are yours and we will fight for you no matter what.”

Another loud sob escapes her, and then I feel someone rubbing her back. Prying my eyes open, I see Cynthia, still crying, but her focus on Dee, trying to let her know we are all here for her. No matter what.

Slowly, as we all surround the small girl who came into our life only weeks ago, her silence louder than any voice has ever spoken, her tears start to subside and her sobs ease off.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, but we all hear it. She pulls back from me, using the sleeve of her hoodie to clean up her tears. “I couldn’t do it, even though I should. Everyone would be better off without me. But I just can’t leave.”

“Fuck, baby.” I shake my head, cupping each side of her flushed face as I stare into her red-rimmed eyes. “You don’t need to leave. No one wants you to leave. Your home is here with me. With the Rogans.”

“Jared is right,” William adds, and I release Dee’s face so she can glance around at her foster parents. “This is your home now, Dee. If you’ll have us.”

Cynthia nods. “Remember what I said last night? Even after we found out everything, we still wanted you to be a part of our family. Please let us take care of you for once. Let yourself have the happiness you deserve.”

Another sob escapes Dee as she nods, and I’m swarmed again by the Rogans as I’m put in the middle of a group hug.

After another few minutes of hugs, Rhys and her foster parents leave Dee in my arms, returning to the house, and I walk to the corner, still carrying Dee wrapped around me so tightly that I know she’s not going to let go anytime soon, and I bend and pick up her backpack before returning to her house.

Yes. HER HOUSE.

No one says anything when I carry her back into her bedroom and close us in. They know we need some private time and give us the space we need.

Slowly, I manage to peel Dee off me and sit her on the bed. She won’t look at me, and I know she’s feeling ashamed or embarrassed, but if she thinks I’m not going to say anything about the stunt she just pulled, then she’s sorely mistaken.

Falling to my knees in front of her, I gently grip her chin and lift it until her eyes meet mine.

“I heard you, Dee. I heard you get out of bed, get dressed and whisper your goodbye to me.”

Her eyes go round in panic, but I continue.

“The mistake I made was not jumping up right there and then and begging you to stay. I’m sorry I didn’t do that. I had it in my head that I couldn’t make you want to be here if you really didn’t want to. I didn’t consider that perhaps you just needed to hear it. That you just needed me to fight for you so you’d know that no matter what, I will always come looking for you. I will always chase you. And you know what?”

She shakes her head, so I continue.

“I will always find you.”

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