Chapter Seven

Havoc

I watched her as she gazed around the small run-down house that had been my childhood home.

I had a lot of memories here. Some of them good, most of them bad. And it felt strange to have a stranger, a woman no less, looking around, running her fingertips over the sides covered in the framed photographs. Leaving trails in the dust.

“Is this your mum?”

For a second, I could do nothing but stare at her as she stood there awkwardly with the photograph in her hand, and my heart hammered in my chest.

This was a bad idea. I hated being here, but I hated anyone else being here more. Especially her. “Yeah.” I plucked the frame from her hands, setting it back down where it belonged.

She had to stop touching things; otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to cope with her being here.

Something so sweet amongst all the nightmare memories of my past.

“Stop touching my stuff.” I didn’t mean for my voice to come out quite so angry. I definitely didn’t mean to cause the fear that swept into her eyes.