Page 135 of The Vanishing Place
“No.” Adam shook his head. “No.”
Dad wouldn’t like that. Dinah was ruining everything. Adam shook his head again. He wanted Dinah to put the baby back. He wanted her to stop talking about Cameron. To stop talking about leaving. To stop touching the baby that had crawled inside her.
Dinah grabbed his hand and thrust it under her cardigan and Adam screamed, like the baby might reach out and bite him. But Dinah held tight.
“It’s kicking,” she said. “Can you feel it?”
Adam tried to pull away. He didn’t want to be anywhere near it.
“It’s okay, Adam,” said Dinah. “He can’t hurt you. He loves you already. You’re his uncle.”
Adam stilled, a small part of him interested—he’d never felt a baby before. Then Dinah’s tummy swelled and moved under his hand, prodding and poking at his palm.
“He’s saying hello,” said Dinah. “Hello, Uncle Adam.”
Adam touched his other hand to Dinah’s belly, searching for the little creature.
“Not too hard.” Dinah smiled.
Then it kicked again, and Adam grinned so big it hurt his cheeks.
“Hello, baby.” He giggled.
Dinah stroked Adam’s hair. “He likes you.”
2025
Tia’s muffled screams—guttural and terrified—leaked under the door.
Effie scrambled forward but the chain held tight, striking against her damaged ankle.
“Let her go,” she screamed. “Let her go!”
Effie yanked so violently that the stabs of pain, of steel grinding on bruised bone, winded her.
“Stop,” she panted. “Please.”
But Tia’s cries didn’t stop. Her moans penetrated the walls. Then there was a shriek, followed by a soft thud. And for a moment it went silent. Effie clenched her teeth, her eyes filling with tears, and she strained her ears.
“Tia?”
Then just as quickly as it had gone silent, the sounds returned. It wasn’t the same desperate shouting—there was no energy left in her sister’s pleas—but a persistent thumping and scraping.
A dragging.
Each thump pulsed in Effie’s chest, and she forced herself not to cover her ears. She forced herself to listen to every sound. It was all that Effie could do for her sister. Finally, the front door slammed shut, the bang vibrating through the shadows, and the hut fell silent.
For a moment, Effie didn’t move. She couldn’t move. Then eventually, she stretched her fingers out toward the door and whispered into the dark.
“Tia. Are you there?”
But there was no answer.
Tia was gone.
Effie had failed her.
Again.
