“Don’t touch me,” I screamed, my lungs quivering inside my chest. “You’ll let them back in!” My body convulsed as my eyes darted around the stark white room. My heart was racing so hard and fast I was nearly certain that my rib cage couldn’t contain it much longer. A sharp shot to the arm and my eyes rolled back in my head and my body went limp. If only they knew then what they know now.

My eyes shifted towards Max. The fire light caught his profile, the flames dancing around just so. He looked even more handsome than before. He noticed me staring and smiled, a small, wry smile. I smiled back and glanced down. Even through the anger burning inside of me, fueled by fear of the dark Halloween night, I understood why Rowan was being the way she was. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her in close. I snuggled my cold nose against her neck.

“Just don’t let anything bad happen tonight, okay?” I pleaded.