Chapter 13

I look at the gray stucco building with the steel door and cringe as it pulses red and throbbing in my mind.

I turn in the car to look at my dad, sure he’s seen it too. I’m sure he won’t force me to go in there again. Because it’s dangerous, like in a horror movie. And I don’t want to be the girl in the movie who confidently walks into that creepy place.

“Dad…”

“Go, Elle,” he says. “You’re going to be late.”

“No. My name is Gabriela.”

I’m Eleanor Gabriela Brooks, though I’ve always been Elle. Until Bob started calling me that. Now, at fourteen, I hate my name. Now my name is Gabriela.

“I know,” my father says. “I know everything that goes on in there. After all, I arranged it.”