Chapter 8: Nowhere Left to Hide

8

That voice nearly scared the life out of me.

Caleb is still alive?

Then who did I kill?

I quickly tried to clear my muddled thoughts.

Because I’d always been hiding in the bed, I’d never actually seen what Caleb looked like.

I tried to recall the voice of the man I killed, but I just couldn’t remember it.

He hadn’t said a single word from start to finish.

I had killed the wrong person.

At that moment, Lillian said, “I don’t know either. Maybe the bed frame got damp.”

I heard them making love in the next room.

But now, I couldn’t even feel hatred—just fear.

I didn’t dare go out.

After all, two against one would be dangerous.

Finally, I waited for Caleb to leave.

I summoned all my strength and kicked at the wooden board at the end of the bed.

But after several kicks, it still wouldn’t budge.

Shh—

Just then, a long knife slit open the mattress.

Caleb’s face appeared before me.

He grinned and said, “Damn, man. I was starting to wonder if you’d ever tap out.”

The room filled with the sound of tearing fabric, the blade glinting in the dim light. My legs cramped, lungs aching for fresh air, I stared up into Caleb’s eyes—ice-blue, cold as lake water in November. He didn’t look angry. He just looked amused, like he’d stumbled onto a weird joke. For a second, all I could do was stare, my body pressed between decay and revelation. The world had finally caught up to my secret—and now, there was nowhere left to hide.

All those years hiding, all that planning—and now, with the blade glinting in Caleb’s hand, I realized I was never really invisible. Not to her. Not to anyone.