Behind Our Walls Read Online Free PDF

She said it for him and he nodded slowly.
    "We need to give her time," he said. "She's got to want to come out of it and I don't think we can rush it. At least we're somewhere relatively safe. The house is set down below the road, and it's pretty hard to spot unless you're really looking for it. Even in the daytime, it's pretty well hidden by the trees and at night, the only way you'd see it is if the lights were on. There's a driveway that connects with the road, about a quarter mile up from here. I'm going to go and try to cut down some dead trees, pile them up so that hopefully it will be better concealed. I don't think we can stay here forever but it'll work for now."
    "Do you think I should try and talk to her?" she asked.
    He seemed to consider it but shook his head. "I don't know if it would be a good idea at this point. She went through two traumas with the assault and then seeing Adam killed. She needs to get a little better on her own and seeing you could just cause more stress if she's still angry at you."
    The chair scraped back from the table and she watched James wander off into the living room, browsing over the bookshelves for something to read.
    "At least there seems to be plenty here to keep us occupied," Rowen said.
    Not exactly her dream vacation. Her sister, in a near-coma and when she came around, would likely prove to be even more hostile than before. Their father, still barely a shell of himself. The closest she had to a friend anymore was Rowen, the one who she knew the least about. Somehow she would have to make do in this house that only seemed to amplify her loss. She wanted nothing more than to be able to leave, but also wanted to stay. Already she could feel the comforts of the chair below her starting to sap her will to move and part of her wondered if she would even have the strength to leave something like this behind.

-9-
     
     
    As it turned out, keeping the lights on or off at night wouldn't have really made any difference.
    They moved Corrine into one of the upstairs bedrooms and for three nights in a row, Corrine woke abruptly, breaking free from her shock induced coma. Unfortunately, this meant screaming, so loud that Sophie imagined the sound rolling down the hills and being heard for miles around. Sophie and James tried to soothe Corrine, but ended up just restraining her, pinning her down to the bed to keep her from hurting herself. Her screaming became more shrill and panicked, even writhing hopelessly and it brought Sophie to tears every time, wondering what Corrine was perceiving happening to her. Was she with Reggie, perpetually locked in that moment?
    Eventually, she would start to wind down. The energy would bleed out of her and the screams turned into pathetic whimpering. Her breathing would go long and heavy and before too long, she would be snoring lightly. It was only at that point that Sophie would be able to find even a small amount of sleep.
    Rowen sneaked into the room under cover of the newly found silence, and nudged Sophie. She looked down at Corrine, her frail figure peaceful underneath the sheets, before following Rowen into the kitchen.
    "I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," she said. "She's my sister, but son of a bitch. If this was a year ago, I'd just be Googling home remedies for PTSD. I don't suppose there's any books out there?" The couple who had lived here kept an impressive library. No sign of a television or computer, but the far wall of the living room was literally floor to ceiling with books. Rowen shook his head.
    "Other than a set of encyclopedias, nothing that would be helpful. We just have to—"
    "Be patient. I know. I just don't understand how it's possible that I was getting more sleep on the floor of a gas station than I am in this secluded little house."
    "Yeah," Rowen said, shifting his foot uncomfortably. "About that. It might not be as secluded as we would like anymore."
    Her head snapped around at the comment. "What do you