words barely even seemed to register at first, and when they did, Ronnie’s response was disbelief. His eyes were glossy with unshed tears, and even though he had obviously tried to wipe the blood off his face, Colt could still see the smears on his cheek and the back of his wrist.
“Something is wrong with me,” Ronnie said, taking in a shaky breath. He seemed a little more conscious, but with the way he was talking, Colt wasn’t sure that was a good thing. “I think I’m losing my mind.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you,” Colt said as gently as he could, wiping away the rest of the blood on Ronnie’s face. He hesitated as his thumb brushed over the fullness of the boy’s bottom lip. Colt pulled him in for another hug, being more careful of his wound this time. “Everything will be fine. I promise.”
Colt lifted Ronnie into his arms again, and this time, he collapsed against Colt’s chest. “I thought if I left, they’d be safe,” Ronnie said, his voice barely above a whisper. “The dreams wouldn’t stop, and I started waking up in strange places. I tried to stop myself, but it wasn’t enough. There’s something inside of me, the black smoke, it…” He grew more distressed as the words tumbled out, and he looked up at Colt with a pleading gaze. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
It was a struggle to make sense of the disjointed account. All except for the part about the handcuffs, which explained the broken pair dangling from Ronnie’s wrist.
So he was the one who’d put them on. It should’ve come as a relief, but it didn’t. Whatever was going on, it was obvious Ronnie had tried to stop it, and the fact that he had felt like he had to do it alone just made Colt hate himself even more than he already did.
He pushed the guilt away. There would be plenty of time to beat himself up later, but right now, Ronnie was his only priority.
“Come on,” he said, walking down the pier. Ronnie felt frailer than before, as if the isolation had finished decaying him from within and was working its way out. He would usually have protested the mere suggestion of being carried out of indignation, but he hadn’t even reacted. He was practically limp as Colt carried him back to the truck. It seemed he had retreated into his mind, into whatever strange world he’d confined himself within for the last few months.
“Everything is going to be fine,” Colt repeated, since that was the only thing he knew to say. At the moment, his only purpose in life was making those words the truth.
Chapter 34
Colt
The moment Colt had walked through the door with a semiconscious Ronnie in his arms, Stan and Susan had taken over. Roland was soon to follow, and while none of them had said so much as a word to Colt after ascertaining everything he knew, he was sure that wasn’t going to last. He would be more than happy to let them ream him out. He deserved everything they could possibly say and more.
The only thing that mattered was Ronnie’s well-being, and while Stan had seen to the remainder of the boy’s physical wounds, it became clear to Colt that his mental state was a hell of a lot worse than any of them had feared.
He still didn’t know why Ronnie had gone into those woods, and the boy’s words had only given him the vaguest picture to piece together. When the door to the room the Browns had all been clustered behind finally opened, Colt looked up hopefully.
Stan was the first to come out, and Colt immediately knew it wasn’t good from the look on his face.
“How is he?” he asked anyway, unable to stop himself.
Stan’s eyes met his, full of censure but not as much rage as Colt had expected. Not half as much as he knew he deserved.
“I gave him a sedative, so he’s sleeping. He keeps muttering something about these dreams. I don’t suppose you know what he’s talking about?”
“No, but I have an idea,” Colt admitted. “He said he was afraid of hurting us. That he tried to stop himself. When I found him, he had a pair of broken handcuffs around his wrist.”
Stan’s eyes widened. “Handcuffs?”
“I think he put them on himself,” Colt said. Stan’s face echoed the confusion he had initially felt. “Whatever’s going on, it’s been happening for a while, and I think that’s why