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When I finally resurfaced, he moved inside me again, now taking everything he had just given until he broke with a growl, filling me to the brim, cum sliding down my thighs.

He pulled out, tracing his cum along my thighs and then over my breasts… writing his name on me.

“This is me marking my territory. Remember…”

“My body belongs to you until the debt is paid,” I said.

“That’s my girl,” he said, pressing a kiss on my shoulder.

Why the hell did my heart stop for a second before it restarted?

I woke up with a smile, stretching and groaning. I showered and dressed, before calling the number that belonged to the mother of a girl who had died a few months after Millie came to Hollowhaven. Tabitha Kelsey. She lived in a small town next to Hollow Heights.

The voice that answered the phone sounded weak.

“Hello.” The single word carried the weight of sleepless nights and unspoken grief.

“My name’s Diya Sharma, I’m a doctor at Hollowhaven,” I said. “I called to talk to you about Tabitha.”

There was a long pause as if the woman didn’t know what to say.

“I’m Tabitha’s mother, Mercy. Why are you asking about her now? It has been years.”

This was hard to do on the phone, but I didn’t have time to waste now.

“Do you believe that she killed herself?” I asked, knowing very well I was bringing a world of pain to this woman. “I was looking through some old case notes, and it looked like her death was suspicious.”

There was a sharp, broken intake of breath from the other side.

“They said she overdo-overdosed?” the woman said, her voice a fragile whisper.

She had been waiting for someone to listen. To ask the right questions, and from how she sounded, no one ever had.

“Did you believe that?” The guilt gnawed at me, but I couldn’t stop now. I had to hear her say it.

“No,” she said, her voice cracking. “No, I didn’t. I never believed that. She became worse after she went to Hollowhaven. She kept talking about spiders and ticking clocks… and lavenders. I didn’t understand anything. They didn’t allow me to visit her often and the visits we had… they were supervised by a doctor.”

Now, I knew we were on the right path.

“She went there to get better. She wanted to… graduate, and be a normal teenager. She was nineteen when she died, and I failed her.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmured. I knew it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. “Can we meet, if that’s not too much trouble? I don’t want to do this on the phone. I want to know more about what happened to Tabitha.”

“Yes. Yes, doctor,” she said, voice breaking. “Yes. Yes!”

“When will you be free?”

“Today? Tomorrow? I can come to Hollow Heights right now. Please!” I understood what she was asking. If I was right, and if Tabitha was, in fact, one of his victims, her mother needed closure.

“I’ll meet you tomorrow. Do you know the Hollow Inn?”

“Yes.”

“Can you book a room and message me the room number.” I gave her my number. “Keep it a secret.”

“Are there any problems?”

“Not yet,” I said. “Just be careful.”