I was sweeping the kitchen when I heard the kitchen door open. Theo walked into the house. He was covering his mouth as he was coughing. His whole body shook with every cough. Splatters of blood were seeping out from his hands. I rested the broom against the counter and ran over to Theo.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Theo shook his head, and coughed again. Lindsay hurried into the kitchen. Her eyes grew wide when she saw her son.

"Are you coughing up blood, Theo?" she asked.

"Not a lot," Theo said.

"Go up to your room and lie down," she said. "I will be there in a few minutes."

Theo started coughing again and headed up the stairs. He was leaning against the banister as he made his way upstairs. I followed behind him. He dragged his feet down the hall to his room. I stood in the doorway as Theo flopped down onto the bed. His body curled into a ball as he continued to cough.

Lindsay pushed past me and hurried over to sit on the edge of the bed. She had a box of tissues in one hand and a cold cloth in the other. She laid the cloth across Theo's forehead. She looked over her shoulder at me.

"Leah, can you get me another pillow?" she asked.

I nodded my head and took a step back. I was not sure where to find another pillow so I went into our room. I grabbed the pillow on my side of the bed and gave it to Lindsay. She lifted Theo's head and placed it on top of his pillow.

"That'll make it easier to breathe," she said.

"Mom, I'm fine," Theo said.

His eyes were closed. His pale skin had a few specks of blood on his chin. Lindsay ran her fingers through his dark hair. His forehead was shining with sweat.

"I'll talk to your father when he comes in and see if he can get you any medicine," she said.

Theo nodded his head. Lindsay leaned forward and pressed her lips against his forehead. She got up off of the bed. She kept her head down until she saw me standing in the doorway. Her eyes were glistening with tears. She took in a sharp breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked.

"I hope so," she said. "I was in nursing school when Noah found me. From what I remember, this doesn't look good. I have to talk to Gabe."

She wiped her eyes as she walked back into the hallway. I watched as she made her way to the staircase. I stepped into Theo's room, and he started coughing again. I sat on the edge of his bed. When he felt the mattress dip, he opened his eyes.

"Theo, we need to get out of here," I said. "You need to go to the hospital."

"Leah, we both know that is not going to happen," he said.

"It can happen. Tonight when everyone falls asleep we can leave and get you to a hospital."

"And what am I supposed to say when I get there? They will find out who I am and I will be sent to jail."

"What do you mean?"

Theo shifted his weight on the bed. He let his heavy eyes close for a minute before he opened them again.

"Julie wrote that book about our family," he said. "Everyone is looking for the rest of the family. They want to tear us apart and send us to jail. Haven't you read it?"

"No," I said. "I haven't."

Theo propped himself up on his elbow and reached over to his nightstand. He opened the door and pulled out a book. He handed it to me. It was the book that Juliet Wilcox had written. I remember my friend reading it in high school.

"Read it," Theo said. "You'll understand why I can't leave."

Theo started coughing. He held a tissue to his mouth. When he pulled the tissue it away it was full of blood. I grabbed a blanket off of the end of the bed and covered Theo. He groaned as he rolled onto his side. He kept the tissue balled up in his fist.

I let out a deep breath and left his room. I went down the hall to my room. I sat down on the bed and opened the book and began reading.

Julie made it sound like she chose to join the family. She said that she had met Jimmy at some bar and they fell in love. She joined the family without realizing that they were murderers. She said that Jimmy never murdered anyone, but they were too scared to leave.

It was hard to tell what was real and what wasn't. Gabe told me that women are kidnapped to be brides for their sons. Why would Jimmy and Julie be any different? Julie was probably lying so that Jimmy would not be sent to jail. Her mind is probably warped like Lindsay's. It did not work because Jimmy was sent to jail.

I spent hours reading that book. I did not realize that I had spent the whole afternoon reading until I heard footsteps coming down the hall. Jared walked into the room rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. He smirked when he saw me sitting on the bed.

"Hello, beautiful," he said.

He sat down on the bed in front of me. He kissed me before looking down at the book open in my hands. He ripped it out of my hands and looked at the cover. His lips pressed into a tight line.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"I found it," I said.

"I don't want you reading this," he said. "Julie ruined our family. This book is ridiculous."

"I was just curious," I said.

I reached forward to grab the book. Jared pulled it away. He swung his one hand out, and slapped me across the cheek. I yelped and cradled the side of my face. He threw the book across the room and slid closer to me. He pulled my hand away from my face and placed it on his chest. He ran his fingers through my hair, and let his lips graze along my burning cheek.

"I'm so sorry," Jared said. "I just want you to be okay. You don't need all of that to confuse yourself."

"It's okay," I said.

Jared turned my head so that he could kiss me. His lips attacked mine, and I did not bother to pull away from him. He seemed to have a bit of a temper, and I did not want him to throw me back down in the basement. When he pulled away his lips were spread into a wide smile.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," I said to keep him happy.

"Mom is making dinner," he said. "Why aren't you helping her?"

"I was reading and she did not tell me."

Jared rolled his eyes. He grabbed my hand and pulled me up off of the bed. His grip was tight as he pulled me out of the room. My feet stumbled as I tried to keep up. We went down into the kitchen. Lindsay was standing at the counter emptying the pot of mashed potatoes into a bowl.

"Is there anything Leah can help you with, Mom?" Jared asked.

"No, I am finished," she said.

"Leah, you need to help Mom," he said.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Lindsay said. "I saw that Leah was reading and I thought that she deserved the night off."

"Do you know what she was reading?"

"No."

"She had Julie's book."

Lindsay raised one of her eyebrows. I could feel the heat rushing up to my cheeks. If I knew that Jared would be so upset about this book I would have hidden it. I wrapped my hand around his arm and rested my head against him hoping that he would not punish me. The feeling of Jared's slap still lingered on my cheek.

"Where did you find that?" Lindsay asked. "I thought Gabe got rid of that book."

"It was on the bookshelf in the living room," I lied.

She nodded her head and picked up the bowl of potatoes.

"I would get rid of it before Gabe sees it," Lindsay said. "He would probably not be too happy to hear that is in the house."

"We'll get rid of it," Jared said.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"It's okay, beautiful." He kissed the top of my head. "It gives me the chance to do something special for you."