CIAN
I left my mother's room with my head clearer than it had been before I went in. I knew what I had to do now.
The hallway stretched before me and I moved through it with purpose. My feet carried me down the stairs, through the main doors, out into the grounds where everything had fallen apart earlier.
The sun was lower now. The light had turned warm and golden. It painted everything in soft amber tones that made the world look gentler than it actually was.
I headed toward the trees where I'd last seen Madeline run. My chest was tight but not with the same suffocating pressure from before. This was different. This was the kind of tightness that came from knowing you were about to do something difficult but necessary.
Movement caught my eye.
Two figures emerged from the tree line. Madeline and Wilhelm walked side by side. Her face was blotchy and her eyes were red rimmed. She'd been crying. My stomach twisted.
Then she saw me.
