NORA

"Excuse us, Henry." Mr. Marcelli dismisses the older man, not once removing his eyes from me.

Henry looks a little hesitant at first, but then he leaves. He passes by me and then exits the room.

"This isn't the proper time or place to have this conversation," he says, standing there in his suit. "We can speak in the morning—"

"No," I cut him off, my voice rising. "We're going to talk right now. I want to know what happened and who did it. I need to know."

His lips purse together. "I've already told you that—"

"—you will tell me when the time's right. Yeah, I know that and I'm telling you that this time is right." I take a step toward him, and I feel my breathing quicken. "Who killed them?"

I need to know who it was. I need to know if this is all true. I want to see a picture, evidence of what he's saying, not just his word.

He watches me for a long, quiet moment, and I'm certain that he's going to reject the idea, that he's going to send me to bed. And I'll be damned if I let him do that. I will not sleep tonight, until I know.

What I saw, what I dreamt of, the screams... I can't shake it off.

"Go back to bed. It is late." He walks to the door, ready to leave. "We will talk in the morning."

"No."

That doesn't make him stop. I don't move as I watch him walk past me and into the hallway. My head turns, and I feel something snap in my chest. Before I know it, I start moving behind him, across the hallway.

"You knew my father," he still doesn't stop. "You knew him. Why? What was he to you? You're not his friend. Your father may have been his friend, but you're not. So, why did he visit you?" I question, following him through the hallway and then down another. "Why did he come here?"

It's still quiet. He doesn't utter a word, and I grow furious.

"My parents were good people. They never hurt anyone. Why would someone kill them? Why would they deserve such a fate?" I ask, and it's like I'm speaking to the walls in front of me. "You don't have to care, but you can at least show some damn humanity and give me an answer!"

He doesn't stop. There's a door at the end of the hallway, which I assume he's going to disappear off to and leave me hanging with no answer.

I rush forward, "Who killed them?"

I'm right beside him, and I can't help it, but my hand grabs his wrist. My fingers curl around his arm, and he stops, right there, right before the door. I'm holding on to him, and the moment I realise what I've done, I want to pull back, afraid of his reaction.

And I do, instinctively, the moment it feels like... something's burning.

Not me, but him.

His skin feels so warm, so hot that it feels like I've placed my hand on a freaking stove. His body stiffens, and I'm afraid that I've done something wrong.

"I'm—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—" I stutter, and my heart is beating faster and faster.

He turns around, and it's then that I'm able to see his face. It's not angry. It's not red or twisted.

"Go back to your room." He tells me, his voice not sounding as harsh as it did before. "I'll answer your questions in the morning, not now."

I nod and take a step back and then another. I don't say anything else, and neither does he. I turn around and begin walking down the hallway, toward my room.

Once I reach the staircase, I look back.

He's not there anymore.

And I don't know what to think.

I don't sleep that night. It's hard to even try, and I fear that if I do, I might hear my parents, or maybe even see something worse. I don't want to, so I stay awake, staring at the ceiling and then the clock on the wall.

The sun rises, and I'm still awake.

There's a woman downstairs who greets me once I enter the kitchen.

"Good morning, Ms. Locke—" She has a wide smile on her face. "I'm Maggie, the housekeeper. I hope you had a restful night. What can I get you for breakfast?"

I stand there, and I'm not quite expecting her. There was one point where Henry did mention her, that she'd be here in a few days time.

"Uh—just some coffee. Thank you." I mumble and sit down.

I wait for an entire hour for Mr. Marcelli to arrive, but he never does. Instead, Harry comes right at the time, ready to take me to the clinic. My questions remain unanswered, and it feels like they will remain unanswered.

"You're early." Layla says, looking up from her desk. "Dr. Graham isn't here yet, but you can get started on the dogs. They're hungry." She grins, and I nod.

"Yeah, I can."

I place my things away and then head into the back. The moment I'm here, I hear barking, loud barking. All the dogs in the cages are at the front, barking at the top of their lungs.

I'm a bit startled at first.

"Oh, they've been like that since I came in here." Layla comes behind me and says. "They're a little agitated today, must be some storm coming or something."

"Yeah..."

I step forward, prepared to calm them down.

"Hey, guys... it's okay. It's just me."

The barking doesn't stop, not even a little. Three of them on the left recoil when I near them and one hides back in his cage.

Layla frowns beside me, "Wow. They really don't like something today."

Something. Yeah.

"Maybe it's just me," I say with a shrug. "They don't seem to like me."

Layla takes a step forward and begins feeding them, and I follow behind. Most of them cower away, but a few allow me to pet them. They're... scared of something.

But what?

I help Layla feed them, and for the most part, she manages to do it while I stay a little back, just monitoring what they need to eat and whatnot.

"It must be your scent today. It's quite different from yesterday. You know, the dogs can smell the slightest change, though not as good as we do."

"My—what?" I furrow my brows and look at her.

She halts at petting one of the dogs and slowly turns to me, "I mean your perfume."

"I'm not wearing any, and I didn't wear yesterday either."

"Oh." Layla stands and wipes her hands over her shirt. She doesn't look at me. Instead, she looks at the door. "I'll go check the other ones in the back before Dr. Graham is here."

What was that all about?

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