//EDITED//

The voices come again.

The haunting voices that I have tried to forget.

This time, I am completely alone, and there is no one to save me. Not even Jake.

They're calling me but I am rooted to the ground and can't move. I can't go back there again. Why is everything from the past coming back to bite me? Isn't what happened in the past supposed to stay there?

"It's because you haven't moved on. You're still stuck in the past. You have been lying to yourself, hiding from the truth, Thea. If you want to avenge the innocent souls that were taken from you, then open your eyes wider. Look around you and see that not everything is what it seems," my mother's voice rings through me.

I don't know if hearing her voice should comfort me or make me uneasy.

"Thea, open your eyes. Avenge me—avenge our family."

My eyes fly wide open and I spring up.

What the hell was that?

Springing up so quickly was not a good thing, because now I feel like vomiting from the sudden force. I slowly lay my head back down. I don't care where I am, I need to rest but when my eyes close, those last few words stick to me.

Avenge me. Avenge our family.

***

I hear people whispering around me, making me stir in my sleep.

"She can not be a part of this," a voice says.

"Sir, she already is. Walker thinks she has some kind of information about our plans," Caleb's voice answers the other.

"She is too young and doesn't know what's going on. I won't let this feud get another innocent soul."

"We will take her to a safe place where no can hurt her sir."

"No, she will stay with me," said the other voice firmly.

"With all due respect, sir, you won't be able to help her if Damien finds her, and she should be able to choose to live with her family."

Family.

That word is a pang in my heart. I slightly move in my sheets which causes both the men to stop their conversation.

"Thea, are you alright?" I hear Caleb ask me.

I nod. I can feel his presence close to me and for some reason, it brings me comfort. His hands rest on mine and he slightly squeezes it.

"Why don't you open your eyes, Thea? Is there something wrong?" He asks, concerned.

Why is he being so nice to me?

I slowly open my eyes, squinting until I become used to the lighting.

"No," I say, as I stare at his face.

I see him let out a breath of relief and he gives me a sweet smile.

"Well, that's good to know. Don't know how I would live if I couldn't see your pretty eyes anymore."

My heart melts.

A blush spreads across my face and I smile at him. Before I can say thank you, someone clears their throat.

Caleb gets up from the side of the bed and my eyes widen when I see who it is. He looks the same as the last time I saw him, but older. I can see the stress clearly on his face where laughter used to be. His hair is entirely grey, with not a single brown strand remaining.

"Grandpa," I whisper.

"Caleb, give us a minute."

Caleb nods and leaves without questioning the instruction. He seems oblivious to the relationship between his boss and me.

In the past, when I saw him I would jump up in joy and run to him. Then, I would hug the life out of him and hold on to him so he wouldn't leave.

But that was twelve years ago—twelve years ago my grandpa died.

***

"I don't understand. How are you—"

I can't finish my sentence as I stare at him.

He makes me take a shower and eat before we talk. I'm surprised to see he has clothes that fit me, and they're pretty comfortable too. We move to sit outside on the patio. It's the same house my father, and later on Jake and I, grew up in. I have so many memories here, and if it really is that same house, then I'm not in New York anymore—I'm in New Jersey.

"I know what you're thinking, Thea. But I was never really dead."

'Cause that just makes it a whole lot clearer.

"Look, there are a lot of secrets out there, and if I even told you half of them I know it would taint your childhood memories of me. Now everything is different—this is what I was afraid of when you were born. The two of us, here, having this conversation—It's what I have feared most in my life."

"Grandpa, what's going on?"

His eyes are filled tears and it breaks my heart to see him like this.

"When Caleb brought you in here like that; I broke, Thea. I broke down seeing my granddaughter being carried in, looking like she was about to die," he says through his tears. "If I tell you the truth, Thea, it might kill you. I'm trying to protect you. I want—I want someone in my family to live a normal life, away from this madness, but there's no stopping it, and I have learned that the hard way."

"Grandpa, I would rather cry over the truth than smile at the lies," I say, hoping that he will tell me what's going on.

"You're just like your mother, you know. Same eyes, same hair, same smile—"

"Grandpa—"

"I staged my death to save you and Jake from danger, Thea. My being gone was supposed to help your situation, not worsen it."

"Let's go for a walk," I suggest.

Grandpa looks like a mess, and I am pretty sure he isn't going to give me any clear answers. He nods and I help him up.

"I am a journalist at the New York Times," I say, trying to put him in a good mood.

He smiles. "So I have heard."

Sadly that is my only accomplishment right now.

Does he know about Jake? What if he doesn't? How do I break the news to him? How about my current status as a wanted murderer?

"I know about everything, Thea. There's nothing I don't know about what's going on in your life right now."

I nod my head, understanding completely.

"Thea, do you remember what your parents were working on when you were younger?"

I shrug. "They would never tell me, but I did know they were making some kind of tech. I know it failed at the end."

He nods his head.

We reach a river that I used to play in with Jake, and I sit down alongside Grandpa.

"I remember when you started swimming here," he says, laughing.

I remember too, and a smile forms on my face.

"Yeah, you and Jake used to force me here so I would learn how to swim."

Grandpa shrugs. "At least it paid off."

I roll my eyes and we sit in the quietness for a while. This is my first time seeing my grandpa in twelve years and I have nothing to say to him, but I enjoy the silence—it brings peace. The cold air brushes past my skin as we sit down on the cold grass. My feet are a little soaked from the water that splashes around once in awhile. The trees are starting to drop their leaves, which fill the meadow.

"Grandpa," I say.

"Yes."

"What's today's date?"

"Today is October 31st."

I look at him in shock; it's already Halloween!

"The boys brought you in on the 28th."

"I have been unconscious for three days?" I exclaim.

He nods, and continues to stare out into the meadow. His tears are gone now, but there is still sadness in his eyes.

"The car crash gave you many injuries, and your previous injuries weren't healed yet so it caused some complications with your healing process."

Based on my understanding, Jake has been dead for six days. It has been six days but the pain is so fresh it feels like I lost him yesterday. I close my eyes and images of his death flash through my mind.

"Did mom and dad know you weren't actually dead?" I ask.

Grandpa nods his head.

They knew. I can't believe it. They knew and never told me—they knew while I was crying my heart out with grief.

I don't want to ruin the memories of my parents with this new revelation, so I try to stop thinking about it.

"You said there are secrets that I don't know yet—are they related to what's happening to me right now?" I ask.

"I am afraid so," Grandpa replies.

That's what I was afraid of. Whatever is happening, all this craziness, is somehow linked to me, and right now that's all the information I can handle.

But I have a feeling there is something bigger and uglier waiting for me—and it's coming real soon.