Page 43 of Beneath the Flames
I have waited a long time to write you this letter. You see, my dear husband told me I was absolutely forbidden to ever write it.
Sadly, Cliff recently passed away. My heart has been broken a second time, but I am grateful for the precious years the two of us spent together.
However, as much as I still love and respect my husband, I’ve never felt right about keeping the secret. You need to know the truth.
Brie frowned and glanced up at Faelan. He was oblivious, pacing the house like a furious caged lion. Unsure if she wanted to know the secret, Brie had to force herself to continue reading.
Please understand, my husband and I had no idea. It came as a horrifying shock to us when we discovered what my son had hidden in our basement. I’m still haunted by it. All of those guns, the plans he had hung on the walls, and that goddamn journal.
As a mother, I can’t imagine the pain Trevor must have been suffering to plan a horrific thing like a killing spree. I’d like to believe he would never have gone through with it, but there was far too much evidence to think otherwise. Thesheer volume of guns and ammunition, as well as the detailed maps on the walls and the journal my husband found, leave me with no doubt that he was planning to carry out his deadly rampage.
Trevor not only planned to kill us but a number of students at the school as well. I truly think my son was psychotic.
Selfishly, I wish we had kept that door locked and never ventured down to the basement. It would have been so much easier not knowing, but it wouldn’t have been fair to you.
You need to know that I forgive you for killing my son in that car accident. Although you were unnecessarily reckless, I know you had no intention of hurting, much less killing, Trevor. The fact is, that fatal accident saved countless lives, including my own.
Although I know this letter has been a long time coming, I hope it provides you with some comfort.
Sincerely, June
Brie stared at the letter in utter shock. “Faelan, I can’t believe this.”
He suddenly stopped pacing and walked over,snatching the letter from Brie’s hands. “They kept it from me this entire time!”
She shook her head, stunned that they would do such a thing.
“I’ll never forget when Trevor’s father sought me out at the hospital after the accident and yelled, ‘There is nothing you can do or say that will ever atone for what you’ve done!’ I felt so guilty for Trevor’s death that I agreed with him. But before that asshole left my hospital room, he threatened that he was going to tell the whole world what I’d done and make me wish I had never been born.”
Faelan snarled, “I can’t tell you the hell my family went through. Trevor’s father actively harassed my parents, making sure they suffered as much as I did because of my mistake. It finally got so ugly that my parents were forced to move.”
He frowned, staring down at the letter. “It’s the reason my parents now live in Colorado, alone up in the mountains. They didn’t deserve that, and neither did my sister.”
Faelan’s face grew pained when he said, “Poor Lisa suffered the most…” He swallowed hard, looking as if he was debating with himself whether or not to voice what he was thinking out loud.
“I’ve never spoken about this with another living soul. Not even my parents know about it,” he told her in a strangled voice. Faelan turned to face Brie, looking at her with profound sadness. “I almost lost her, blossom.”
Chills coursed through Brie, understanding what he was implying. “Oh, Faelan…I’m so sorry.”
“It wasn’t bad enough that I carried the guilt of Trevor’s death. Trevor’s father was on the warpath and, because of what he did, my little kid sister tried to end her own life.”
Slapping the paper with the back of his hand, Faelan roared, “This fucking secret they kept ruined my entire family and almost killed Lisa!”
Brie hugged him, wanting to comfort him. “Faelan, you were right to follow your instincts about this letter. If you had destroyed it, you would have no idea that you are a hero.”
“I’m no hero,” he growled.
“Just ask every kid whose name was written in Trevor’s journal. I bet they would tell you differently.”
Faelan sighed angrily. “I’ve spent my life trying to make up for killing a sixteen-year-old kid. Now, after reading this letter, I have no idea what to do or what to think.”
Before he left, Faelan made her promise to keep the contents of the letter a secret until he chose to share it.
“I promise, Faelan, but can I tell Sir?”
For the first time that night, a slow grin played across his face. “Of course. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for you having to kneel on rice again.”
“I appreciate that.” Brie chuckled lightly, grateful to see that spark return. She hoped, once he had time to process the magnitude of this new revelation, he would be able to reclaim that part of himself that he had lost.
