The Star Child (The Star Child Series) by Stephanie Keyes

the house, I got two bowls from the kitchen and filled one with ham and the other with water for the dog. The dog bestowed upon me a grateful kiss on the hand, which I accepted willingly from my new friend. We ate in companionable silence. Though I tried to persuade him to come into the house, he backed away, preferring the freedom of the outside. After a few attempts, I went inside to call Alistair.
     

 
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER SIX
    THE CAVE
     
    “I went looking for her. Before, you know?” Alistair said over the phone. He’d listened patiently before launching into his own explanation of events following Addison’s supposed death. “We, both your gran and I, never quite believed that Addison had died. Somehow, I think we sensed that there was more to it than that. Maybe it was wrong to jump to those types of conclusions. However, all of my interactions with Stephen compelled me to immediately look toward foul play. We hired a private detective, but he never found anything. Your gran never told me about the letters. I don’t blame her for hiding those.”
    There were roughly fifty letters in the stacks that I’d found within the attic room. Half were for me, the other half for Roger. Each dated note was like a journal entry, with the only difference being that the entries were addressed to us boys and not merely designed for personal reflection.
    They chronicled Addison’s experience in the hospital, from her admission to the day of her death. They brought me closer to her, but at the same time pushed her farther away. Alistair was as surprised as I was by all of the information. We sat in silence on the line for several moments before I finally ended the call.
    “I’m going to go back to bed, Alistair. I’m beat.”
    “Do you want to come back and stay with me for a while? Maybe being out there on your own isn’t a good plan.”
    I’d have to deal with what I’d learned, whether I stayed here or went to London. “Thanks, but I’ll be all right. I think I want the alone time for a little while. You know, experience life without any drama.”
    “I understand. Call me if you change your mind?”
    “Promise.” Saying goodbye, I hung up the phone, walked over to the couch and crashed. Sleep began to wash over me and slowly the pain receded.
    ***
    When I woke up, it was early evening. Gingerly, I raised myself into a sitting position, reaching for a half-consumed bottle of water that I’d left on the coffee table.
    “It is about time that you woke up. I have been waiting entirely too long for you, Kellen St. James.”
    I jumped up. The bottle that I’d uncapped slipped from my hands and bounced on the floor. Its contents covered the carpet. “Crap.” After taking a split-second to regain my composure, I let my gaze wash over the door that led to the back of the house.
    And there she stood. Calienta, the girl who featured so prominently in my dreams, was staring right at me.
    “Oh, this is great. I’ve absolutely lost my mind. I have one dream about a mental hospital and now I’m hallucinating?” I turned my back on my hallucination and started to tidy up the mess that I’d made; the impact was widespread but easy to clean up.
    When I looked up again, I expected not to see her, but there she remained. Unsettled, I was convinced that this meant that I was now having imagined conversations with Calienta when I wasn’t sleeping, which distressed me greatly on many levels.
    She walked closer toward me, her simple white dress moving as she walked. “You are not hallucinating.”
    I took a couple of steps back instinctively. She laughed at me, clearly finding my response funny.
    Letting my gaze travel over her, I noted that she looked pretty real for a hallucination. “Calienta? Is that really you?”
    “It is really me.”
    But how could it be? “Who are you really?” Continuing to back away, I took in more of her features as I did so. She was still the same little girl that I remembered. In