Chapter 81

She hardly raised her voice to speak above a whisper as she pleaded with him, "Please don't leave." I turned around to face her; she was looking at me with her large, appealing eyes that were the color of the ocean.

I responded softly, "Okay, love," and then moved to the opposite side of the bed, where I climbed under the cover and sat with my back against the headboard. After that, she proceeded to get closer to me, at which point I felt compelled to put my arm around her. She fell asleep almost immediately after laying her head on my chest and snuggling up to me. We were really close. It took a little bit of time until I was also kicked out. The day had been exhausting.

When I woke up and stretched my arm out to the side, I saw that Lucy's previous position on my body was now vacant. As I jumped out of bed in a hurry, I was momentarily overcome with a feeling of terror in my chest. In the midst of my search for her in the room, I became aware of the sound of the shower. A