If there is one thing I would say to anyone living in a house that has begun to frighten them, it is this: believe the fear.

You do not have to act on it dramatically.

You do not have to be sure.

But do not talk yourself out of the small quiet preparations, the kept record, the memorized number, the noticed grate.

Your fear is trying to protect you.

Let it.

Chapter 10 — Three Days

The doctors set my surgery, and my parents did not leave my side, and my attorney went to work with a focus I found steadying.