Chapter 52

That night the house was too quiet. Asher sat at the kitchen table staring at his phone that has unread messages glowing across the screen. His face were pale and his hand tremble slightly as he scrolled.

Finally, he looked up at me. “She gave me an ultimatum Cam, my wife. If I don’t go back tomorrow, she’s filing for divorce.”

My throat tightened. “Asher…”

He shook his head cutting me off before I could argue. “I can’t lose my kids. I can’t… lose the life I built. I came here to protect you but if I stay longer than this, I’ll lose them. Then I’m no good to anyone.”

I saw how tired he really was, not just tired from sleepless nights but worn down from being torn in two until nothing remained than the hollowed out version of himself.

I wanted to beg him not to go, that I couldn’t do this without him but the words were caught in my throat, it would have sounded selfish and cruel.

I just whispered, “I understand.”

His eyes glistened he pulled me into a rough hug, the kind that feels like a last one even when no one says it.

~

Morning came and the house felt emptier after Asher had left. His presence have always been a buffer..... a voice of reason in the middle of my spiraling thoughts and a steadying hand when the ground is beneath me. Now the silence pressed in from the walls, a silence too sharp and deliberate.

He kissed the top of my head before leaving then whispered that he loved me but I saw the guilt in his eyes. His wife’s texts had been coming in like bullets... angry, suspicious and accusing him of being unfaithful. Though I begged him not to go even when I plan not to, not when everything is unraveling itself now, but I saw the decision harden in his face.

“My kids needs me,” he said, his voice breaking. “If I lose them, I will lose everything. Please don’t make me choose between you and them Cam. Please.”

I wanted to tell him I needed him more, that I couldn’t breath without him here but instead I nodded, because that was what love is like sometimes.... letting someone walk away when you’re desperate for them to stay.

By the time I woke up, he was gone. The only things left were a folded note and Elise’s coded journal on the kitchen table. His handwriting were uneven like he had written it in the dark.

'I’ll keep digging from home but don’t let them break you, you’re stronger than you think. From your loving brother, Asher.'

I read it twice before pressing it against my chest. The journal stared at me like an open wound.

Damien was already outside on the porch when I found him, his shoulders were rigid against the railing and the early fog crawling over the bay behind him. His hair were damp with mist and his shirt clinging to the sharp lines of his back.

“You heard,” I said quietly.

He didn’t turn. “Yeah. Your brother’s a smart man, smarter than me. He knows when to walk away for what's more important to him.”

“You think he’s walking away for good?” I asked.

“You won’t let him,” Damien said, glancing over his shoulder. His eyes locked on mine for a heartbeat then drifted back to the water. “Blood ties don’t snap that easily, trust me.”

There was something unspoken on his tone, something about family or betrayal but I didn’t ask, not tonight.

“He left Elise’s journal,” I murmured holding it up. “Said it's mine now.”

Damien’s gaze flicked to the book, then back to the fog. “Good, we will see to it"

~

Damien paced and sometimes disappearing for hours without a word. The house felt like two separate orbits... me with my ghosts and him with his demons.... both spinning closer and closer to collapse.

By evening, I found him in the living room, standing over the map we’d pinned with notes and photographs. Red string cut across like veins binding everything together. His hands gripped the table’s edge so hard his knuckles went white.

“You don’t eat, you don’t sleep,” I said softly. “You’re going to burn out before we get anywhere.”

His head snapped up with dark eyes. “You think I don’t know that? Every time I close my eyes I see faces, faces of girls we couldn’t save that are dead while some are missing. Sometimes…” He broke off, his jaw tight.

“Sometimes what?” I pushed.

He looked away swallowing hard. “Sometimes you.”

The words were raw and jagged like he didn't mean to let them slip. My heart jolted.

“You see me?” I asked.

Damien dragged a hand over his face. “Forget it.”

“No,” I stepped closer. My voice shook but I didn’t back down. “You said you see me, what does that mean?”

His chest rose and fall, sharp with anger and pain. “It means I don’t know if I’m protecting you or destroying you and I can’t tell the difference anymore.”

The silence between us was like a fire, I felt the heat of it and the danger.

“You haven’t destroyed me yet,” I whispered.

His eyes found mine searching for forgiveness and permission. Maybe for absolution he’d never get.

His hand brushed my arm... trembling....before he pulled back.

“I can’t,” he muttered. “Not like this, not with everything around us collapsing.”

“Collapsing is the only time anything real ever happens,” I said before I could stop myself.

The mask slipped from his face just for a moment, I saw the man beneath, scarred and starving for something he thought he didn’t deserve but before either of us could move closer, something stand outside.

A figure at the edge of the streetlight. It's tall and still. My heart stopped.

'Nolan?' I thought.

I blinked and he was gone.

The world tilted and my breath became shallow. “Damien....”

He sees how scary I was and start moving, draw his knife flinging the door open. He stormed down the steps scanning the yard and the streets while the fog curled against the ground.

“There wad someone,” I gasped, gripping the window frame. “He was standing right there watching us.”

Damien turned back slowly with cautious eyes. “Camille… there’s no one out here.”

My pulse raced. “No, there was someone. It was him, Nolan. I swear to you, I saw him.”

He closed the door locking it with a click. “I think you’re exhausted, you’re seeing ghosts.”

The dismissal cut deeper than I expected.

“I know what I saw,” I snapped.

His face softened but only slightly. “Camille… maybe you did or maybe he wants you to think you did. Either way, he’s in your head.

”

I hated that he might be right and doubt was crawling into me, muddying the line between real and unreal.