Chapter 8
A Glimpse of the Past
One of the young maids, Elena, corners Callie in the library. Terrified, Elena reveals she saw Julian's muddy boots and remembers that Clara and the boy never left the mountain. Callie acts supportive to extract the information, but secretly realizes Elena is a chaotic, dangerous variable to her game.
My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs, a wild bird trapped in a cage of bone. The library, usually a sanctuary of hushed reverence, felt suffocatingly small, the towering shelves of leather-bound volumes pressing in on me. Elena, usually a flurry of nervous energy, stood before me, her small frame trembling, her eyes wide and glistening with a terror that mirrored my own, yet was somehow sharper, more raw.
“Miss Callie,” she whispered, her voice cracking. She clutched the worn fabric of her apron, her knuckles white. “I… I have to tell you something.”
I forced a smile, the kind that felt plastered on my face, a fragile mask I wore for Julian. “Elena, what is it? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” My voice, I hoped, was soft and reassuring, the balm I’d learned to apply liberally in this house.
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