Revelations

Now

"Are you still having nightmares?"

I glanced at my lukewarm cup of coffee. We'd been sitting in the bookstore for a few hours, and I'd barely said a word.

"Sometimes," I answered. "You were smart. You left."

He nodded, his brown eyes searching my face. "I shouldn't have abandoned you. I should have stayed. I wasn't there for you."

"It's not your fault, Isaac." I smiled and gripped his hand. "You're here now."

"Five years too late," he said, shaking his head. "I wanted to come back, believe me, but I was scared. It was too much for me." He winced, realizing what he'd said. "Shit, I'm sorry. That was a stupid thing to say after everything you've been through."

"It's okay," I told him. "I understand. What happened was awful. I should have left too. But I know it would have made me look guilty."

"You didn't do anything, Nina. I know you. And I know you never would have hurt anyone."

"But they said—"

Isaac scoffed. "They who? The people of Dover? Please, they live on rumors, we both know that."

"There was blood on my hands," I snapped, my vision blurry. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand."I was standing over my dad's body."

"That's what they told you," Isaac replied. "It doesn't mean it was true."

"The cops sure believed it. They took me in for questioning that night."

"But they let you go," he reasoned. "They wouldn't have done that if you were guilty."

I glanced at the people around us. None of them knew me here, knew what I had done. Or hadn't, depending on who you asked.

"My dad is still dead," I whispered. "And if I didn't kill him, then who did?"