Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 371(@200wpm)___ 297(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“I mean Ren is sick. He is not himself right now. He needs help. More help than I can give him. We need to find him and help him together.”
“Sick how?” My father looks at me in confusion. “What direction is the cabin?”
Before I can answer either of his questions, his phone rings in his pocket. He takes it out and looks at the screen. “It’s your mother. She has been beside herself, inconsolable since you’ve been gone.”
Guilt slithers up my spine like a poisonous snake. Even though I didn’t leave by my choice, I also didn’t try to get away until now.
My father hands me his phone, and I press the green button before holding the small device to my ear. “Mom?”
“Oh my god, Scarlet.” My name comes out as a sigh, and I can feel my mom’s relief through the phone as she quietly sobs into the receiver. “I was so worried about you. You have no idea how much I love you. If something would’ve happened to you…”
“Mom, it’s okay. I’m here. Nothing bad happened to me. I promise. I swear I’m on my way home, and I’ll explain everything to you when I get there.” My words only calm her down a little, but enough to tell me again how much she loves me and that she can’t wait for me to get home.
I hang up the phone as the driver starts the car and pulls out of the small and shabby parking lot. Handing his cell back to my dad, he shoves it into his pocket before bombarding me with questions once more. “What do you mean by Ren is sick? What king of sickness? Are you sure you are okay?”
“Positive. It’s not the kind of thing that is contagious.” I take a deep breath, not sure where to start. “I think Ren is mentally ill, like a split personality or something like that.”
“No shit,” Quinton grumbles from the front of the car.
“I’m serious. Ren kept talking about having a brother named River. He talked about him like he is a real person, so real that I believed him. He talked to him on the phone and on the computer, but I never saw him or heard his voice. He kept saying it wasn’t the right time to meet.” Though I met him today all right.
I continue to share about things that have happened, how Ren becomes a different person sometimes and how he is influenced by River, which I refer to as his bad side. I also tell them about Rebecca and her son, about New Haven, and how they are still taking children off the street. I skim over the part where Ren took me to kill someone and the trip to New Haven to kill Rebecca. Those fun facts I keep for another time. Right now, I need to get them on my side so I can help Ren.
“I don’t know, Scar,” my father says when I catch my breath. “I don’t know a lot about this illness, and I’ve definitely never heard about River before. Don’t you think this would have come up sooner? I can’t believe someone just gets this without any prior signs.”
“I’m not sure either, but we need to figure it out. We need to ask a psychologist and help him—”
“We don’t have to do anything right now besides get you home to your mother,” Dad insists. “Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”
No, I can’t wait until tomorrow. “What about you, Q? Have you ever heard Ren talk about River or seen anything that was off?”
My brother stays quiet. Instead of answering my question, he silently looks out of the window. When he finally speaks, his voice is void of all emotion. “All I know is that he was my best friend my whole life before he betrayed me in the worst way possible. I’ve been trying to find an explanation, any kind of hint why he would suddenly change so much. This would explain it, but just like you two, I don’t really know much about this disorder. I don’t think we should jump to conclusions. Either way, he tried to hurt Aspen, and I don’t know if I can ever forgive him for that.”
“I really do think he’s sick,” I say. “He’s not doing this on purpose.”
“I just don’t want you to look for excuses. And even if you’re right, and he has a split personality, it would still be him, or at least part of him, doing all these things.”
My shoulders sag. Clearly, there is no reasoning with Quinton right now. I glance at my father sitting next to me. The expression on his weathered face lets me know he is deep in thought. At least he’s not dismissing me completely. All I have to do now is convince him that Ren is worth saving. I have to do it, not only to save him, but to save myself as well.