him. Dad hugs me back, a tight squeeze, and then mumbles something about me getting going.
Sylvia and I leave, and once we’re on the front porch, I pause to let her take the lead. She goes around back and heads for the tree line. She takes out her cell and turns on her flashlight. I do the same.
“Sawyer and Miguel already hiked to the TB hospital. Sawyer wanted to go up first to be alone for a few minutes, but Miguel and I didn’t feel like that was a good idea. I stayed back and packed more stuff for him and Lucy. Sawyer didn’t want to linger here in case his mom came back. I promised him I’d find you when I was finished and bring you up. He wants to see you before he goes.”
“Goes?”
Sylvia offers me a sympathetic tilt of her head. “He wants to be the one to tell you.”
I nod and we begin the steep ascent up the knoll. We start huffing and puffing halfway up and beneath Dad’s leather jacket I start to sweat. I don’t want to take it off though as the cruel fall air is biting at my exposed skin.
We finally reach the stone steps of the abandoned hospital, and eager to see Sawyer, I take two at a time. Sylvia hesitates at the bottom.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“This place seriously scares the crap out of me.”
I glance around the old place that glows silver beneath the moonlight. She’s scared. I’m scared, too, but not of ghosts behind closed doors. I’m more scared of how much further Sawyer can be pushed before he’ll completely break.
“Go on ahead,” Sylvia says as she wraps her arms around herself. “I’ll stay here. Miguel said that they were on the east side of the building’s porch.”
No, that won’t do. I extend my hand to her. “I don’t think any of us need to be alone.” Not anymore.
Sylvia scans the area, the darkness and the shadows. She braves the stairs and laces her fingers with mine. We’re slow as we walk along the stone porch. Sylvia’s head turns at each little sound, her wide eyes roaming the inside as if she’s preparing for an impending attack.
Deep in my soul, I know no attack is coming.
“How are you so relaxed?” Sylvia asks. “Growing up in this town, all I’ve heard about are the terrible things that have happened here. All the deaths, the sketchy medical practices, the satanic rituals once the place was abandoned. This place is nothing but evil.”
“Is it?” Sawyer asks when we turn the corner, and my heart leaps at the sight of him leaning against one of the stone pillars.
“I don’t think this place is evil,” I say.
“Neither do I.” Sawyer takes out a folded bunch of papers from his back pocket and if he didn’t look so incredibly sad, I might have smiled. It’s Evelyn’s diary.
“How can you say that?” Sylvia asks as she lets go of me.
Sawyer looks at me, extends the papers in his hands in Sylvia’s direction, and I nod my head in affirmation. He pushes off the pillar and hands the diary to Sylvia. “When you’re done, give it back to Veronica. It belongs to her.”
Sylvia reverently takes the papers and Miguel drops an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s give them some space.” Miguel stares straight into my eyes. “When you two are done, he doesn’t go anywhere without me.”
“Okay,” I say. They leave, and I give Sawyer my undivided attention. “You told them.”
“I’m not keeping quiet about my mom anymore.”
“I figured that, but that’s not what I mean. You told them that you jump.”
Unsure of himself, Sawyer shoves his hands into his pockets. “Seemed like the right thing to do. If I’m ratting out Mom, I should probably rat out myself.”
I reach out, slip my fingers over his wrists and coax his hands out of his pockets. He complies and pulls me in for a hug. The moment I rest my head on his chest and feel his strong arms around me, I close my eyes. All the stress, the tension, the fear bottled up inside me drains away, and I wish we could stay like this forever.
Sawyer kisses my head then rests his cheek against me. The strong release from his lungs tells me he’s also been searching for peace, and for these brief few minutes at least, he’s found it. He sighs again, but this time, it’s with heaviness. I reluctantly pull away, and he takes