Chapter 169

Violet’s P.O.V.

With a click that sounded a lot like a bone breaking, the last piece of the puzzle fell into place.

One month in hiding and Alice began to change. We were never close to begin with, but with nothing better to do she had started interacting with me. Pinches and practical jokes weren’t exactly what I anticipated when I told mom I wanted a sister, but it was better than the cold shoulder she often gave me.

Those little, innocuous actions began to happen more and more, slowly growing in intensity. I’d been blind to the seeds of fear she sowed deep within me, only noticing them when they began to sprout.

Six months in, and those practical jokes had taken a dark turn. One afternoon, she tripped on her way to the kitchen table and spilled her bowl of scalding soup down my back. Another time I’d woken up to my hair five inches shorter than what it had been when I went to sleep. Next to my pillow was the scissors she used.

Mom didn’t believe me when I told her Alice was purpose