Aiko sat in blood that was not her own as she took in the carnage. Liam’s lifeless body lay mere feet away, and she couldn’t look away from the boy’s hollow eyes. Open and milky, with a glassy sheen, his lips tinged with blue. Her eyes filled with tears, and a choked sob escaped her lips as the harsh reality washed over her like a tidal wave. She had failed him, failed to protect her foster family from the filth known as Jack.

Sirens pierced the surreal scene, growing louder with each passing moment. Aiko felt a strange sense of detachment, as if floating outside her body, a mere spectator to the unfolding tragedy. The weight of the day’s events pressed down upon her like a suffocating shroud, the anguished wails of her foster family echoing in her ears like a haunting melody. Emma’s sobs rang out over the commotion, a heartbreaking lament that tore at Aiko’s soul. The young girl clung to Annabelle, her small frame trembling with the force of her sorrow. As her foster sister held her close, she could no longer hold back the emotion she’d been bottling up these past days.

I’m cursed. I only bring pain wherever I go.

Aiko’s thoughts drifted to her own mother, cut down in her prime, and a fresh pang of grief lanced through her heart. What did she die for? It was those mathematical formulas she found in Paige’s study. She reminded herself of her quest to uncover the truth. And now, the insidious forces that overshadowed her every movement had taken another innocent life, ripping apart another family. Aiko followed the sound of torment that could only come from a mother’s loss of a child. The sight of Mrs. Henderson cradling Liam’s lifeless form took her breath away.

I caused her pain, and I’m sorry.

The woman’s mask of anguish was almost too much to bear. It was a feeling Aiko knew well. The front door burst open, and a flurry of uniformed officers swarmed into the house, their weapons drawn and voices barking orders. Aiko barely registered their presence until a familiar face loomed before her.

“Why am I not surprised? You can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” Detective Hughes said as he entered the bloody kitchen.

“Take care of them. They are good people,” Aiko said.

“Well, get comfortable, because we’ll be here all night.”

Aiko watched the scene unfolding before her. It was like watching a scene in a horror movie. As Aiko watched, Mrs. Henderson was restrained while her son was put into a body bag, and she observed the terror on Emma’s face as a female officer she knew as Jenson questioned her.

Detective Hughes spoke to each member of the Henderson family before urging Aiko into a kitchen chair. With some effort, he rose and traveled three feet to the table. Her legs were stiff from her sedentary position, and it hurt to move. Moments later, she was sitting across from the burly detective she’d met all those months ago.

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“I would like to clean myself up. I don’t like being in these bloody clothes.”

“I’m afraid that’s going to need to wait,” he said as he nodded to someone she couldn’t see.

“Aiko,” he said, his voice low and measured. “I need to ask you some questions about your involvement with Jack.”

Aiko’s brow furrowed, her gaze locking with the detective’s as confusion and anger stirred within her.

“My involvement?” she asked.

Why am I under suspicion when that man put me through so much torment?

“Jack was a threat to this entire family, a monster who preyed upon the innocent and defenseless. How dare you insinuate I had any part in his depravity?”

Detective Hughes held up a placating hand.

“I understand this is a difficult time,” he said, his tone gentle yet firm. “But I need to understand what happened here today. The family says you and Jack ran away and spent the night together. I need to know what the two of you planned to do with the Henderson family before Liam interrupted.”

Aiko recoiled as if struck, her eyes widening in shock and outrage.

“Planned?” she spat. “You think I had any part in Jack’s wicked schemes?”

Tears streamed down her cheeks, her body trembling with the force of her emotions as she struggled to find the words to convey the depth of her anguish and betrayal.

“Jack was a monster, a predator who threatened and manipulated me into silence,” she choked out, her voice thick with emotion. “He held this family hostage with his depravity, his twisted desires. And when we tried to stand up to him, to put an end to his reign of terror, he...”

Her voice trailed off, the memory of Liam’s lifeless form searing into her mind like a brand. She drew a shuddering breath, her gaze locking with the detective as a steely resolve burned within her.

“I would never betray this family,” she declared, her voice ringing with conviction. “They took me in when I had nowhere else to go, loved me as one of their own. And now, because of that bastard, they’ve lost a son, a brother...”

Her voice cracked, and she buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with the force of her sobs. Detective Hughes regarded her with sympathy and skepticism, his brow furrowed in contemplation.

“Aiko,” he said after a moment, his voice gentle yet probing. “I need you to tell me everything that happened from the beginning. Leave nothing out, no matter how painful it may be. Only then can we hope to find justice for Liam.”

Aiko rubbed her tired eyes. She nodded, her jaw set in a grim line as she steeled herself for the harrowing tale that lay ahead. Aiko described everything, including the terror she felt as he forced her to submit to a DNA test and made her expel her bodily fluids while Jack watched with glee. Or when she awoke tied to a chair in an underground cellar. The detective’s stony expression didn’t give his feelings away. He stepped away for a moment. Aiko could see him talking to Officer Jenson and a few other officers. She risked a glance behind her, where Jack and Liam’s sudden death came. She never wanted to step foot into this kitchen again, let alone eat another meal in there.

“You’re coming with me,” Detective Hughes said.

“What about the Henderson’s?”

“I wouldn’t worry about them. You have your own defense to consider.”

“Am I… being arrested?”

The detective’s face was expressionless. “Not at this time, but you’re coming with me.”

As Aiko was herded out of the house, she looked for any sign of the Henderson family. A pink and yellow cloud pattern greeted her as she was nudged into a police cruiser.