There Is No Light in Darkness Read Online Free PDF

night. Thank you for the necklace. It’s really beautiful.”
    “You’re very welcome. I’ve had it for a while.”
    “Well, thanks. I’ll talk to you later, then.”
    “Oh, Blake?” he calls out before I press End.
    “Yeah?”
    “Only you.” With that, he hangs up.
    I smile to myself because now I know I’m the only one he calls that stupid belittling nickname. And I love it. Yeah, I’m an idiot.
     
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Four
     
     
     
    Past
     
     
     
    I couldn’t even bring myself to cry during Aunt Shelley’s funeral. I sat through the services with a blank stare on my face, feeling desolate. I knew there were a lot of people around me paying their respects as I kept my head down. I didn’t see anybody—just darkness. The only thing going through my mind—why does everybody that I love leave me? My answer was the same every time—it’s me ... It must be me.
    After her casket was lowered to the ground, I sat in front of the gaping hole, thinking about how much it reminded me of my heart. Phoebe—the nosy neighbor I was staying with until I packed up—told me to take as long as I needed. I couldn’t find my voice to tell her that it wasn’t going to be long enough. I sat staring at that hole with a rose in my hand for hours. When Phoebe got up, a man sat in her place.
    “I’m sorry for your loss,” he said gruffly, his own voice full of agony.
    I remember wishing I could meet his gaze, even for one second, so he could know I heard him. I couldn’t though. I couldn’t let him see the emptiness in my eyes. I’d just lost the last person I had left in my life, and I couldn’t even cry for her. What did that say about me? I wondered. Instead, I sat staring at his shiny black shoes.
    “Thanks,” I whispered. He sat there a little while longer, and then I saw his black shiny shoes get up and walk away.
    A couple of days after the funeral, Phoebe drove me to Mrs. Parker’s house. That was the longest car trip of my life. I was headed to yet another unknown home. I felt like a bag of hand-me-downs being tossed from one home to the next. I saw a sign that read: “Welcome to Peoria” and I knew we were there. Phoebe pulled into the driveway of a large two-story home with a two-car garage. The neighboring houses all had the same look. They were brick with manicured topiaries, and I couldn’t help but wonder what a foster home would be doing in the middle of this neighborhood.
    I was expecting an ugly gray house. That seemed more fitting. I hesitated for a while before I unbuckled my seat belt and stepped out of the car. I walked over to the trunk and waited for Phoebe to open it. Phoebe owned an old wooden-paneled station wagon—the ones that used to be popular in the late seventies or early eighties. I was pretty sure she got the car when it first came out. I was impatiently tapping my foot as I waited for her. She was a heavy-set white-haired woman, and it took her an hour to walk from the driver’s seat to her trunk.
    “Hey, you Blake?” a male voice asked behind me.
    I tilted my head to one side and instantly got a crick in my neck. I cringed and began to massage it as I looked at the guy standing in front of me. He was probably about my age—thirteen—but much taller than me. He had dirty-blond hair and a lanky, long body. I craned my neck as best as I could to look into his hazel eyes. He reminded me of one of the kids that was in my class last year.
    “Yeah, and you are?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. I wasn’t in the mood for small talk today. I just wanted to get in the house and lock myself in my new room.
    “Aubry,” he said, extending his hand to me so I could shake it. I looked at his long thin fingers for a beat before I slid my hand in his and shook once.
    “You live here, too?” Screw it. Might as well be polite to the kid.
    “Yeah, it’ll be three of us now,” he shrugged. He had really big shoulders, but they were hollow looking. It looked like Mrs. Parker