Chapter 21

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Wash the sorrow from off my skin

Show me how to be whole again

-Castle of Glass by Linkin Park

-Castle of Glass by Linkin Park

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DELILAH

A body has been found.

As I walked into the station I held on to my clutch for dear life. I felt numb, like I was in an alternate universe and I wasn't actually living through what was happening. I kept hoping that someone would wake me up and laugh at the horrible nightmare this all was.

Except it wasn't.

I saw it in the faces of the officers that looked at me with pity. They pitied the destroyed mother that walked numbly into their station. I tried to ignore the looks but couldn't help but feel worse than I already did. Detective Jameson approached from the hallway with a sorrowful look on his face.

"Delilah... I'm awfully sorry to have called you under these circumstances," Detective Jameson said. I could tell it wasn't just some rehearsed line.

"When did you find him?" I asked with a shaking voice.

"This morning," he said as we walked down a hallway.

Like in the park the day before, I couldn't breathe. Anxiety began taking over within seconds of approaching the door that would possibly show me how cruel this world could be. I stopped with a heaving chest and leaned against the wall. "I can't," I breathed. "Oh my God, I can't do this."

Detective Jameson stopped, placing a hand over my shoulder. "Hey, I'll be there. Would you rather me call Liam?"

Just the thought of Liam having to see Adrian, or anyone else, in that condition made me falter. I couldn't allow that, not when this was all my fault. "No," I said quietly. "I'll go."

The detective seemed to hesitate for a moment before opening the door we stood in front of. I gasped at the methodical way everything had been set up. A small body, from what I could tell about the size of Adrian, laid there with a white sheet over it. The smell in the room... there was no description for it. I found myself stuck to the floor.

A gentle hand soothed my arm. "Take your time," he said.

We walked to the side of the immobile body. Shivers covered every part of my skin. I gulped, unable to believe that I was really facing this situation.

"Can... Can you uncover...him?" I asked in a small voice.

"Of course," he said. Before doing so, he prepared me for what I was about to see. "This boy was run over, Delilah. There... But you should be able recognize him if it is indeed Adrian."

I closed my eyes while the detective pulled the sheets back. When I could finally bring myself to confront the sight before me, I gasped sharply, covering my face in my hands.

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