Chapter 48

MAY. The landline is blaring. Groaning, I slip out of bed, careful not to wake Finn or Ethan as walk swiftly on barefoot to it. God, I hate the sound of the telephone ringing. It's nostalgic. Rubbing my eyes, I put the phone to my ear. "Hello?" "Mrs. Chase, it's...ah...Neil..." His voice breaks off and he groans, frustrated, talking to someone else over the line. "No, Mrs. Don't touch--Give that back right now, Brianna. Gods, why did you drink so much?!" he yells. My back straightens and the sleep is gone from my eyes in a matter of seconds. "You're with Anna?" "Unfortunately," he sighs, and a childish sob that I refuse to believe comes from my sister cuts through the phone, threatening to blast my eardrum. "She's drunk, and she doesn't want to come home. Do you have a relative's place where I can drop her off?" I think. There's a number of them, but they've been dead to us for as long as our parents have. They're not even an option. "None at all. Where are you? I'll come get he