Chapter 3

I bolted out of bed and ran out barefoot.

Melody had already reached the door.

From outside came Cornelius's plea for help, his voice thick with tears.

"Melody, the power's out at home, and my grandma isn't here. I'm so scared."

"Melody, please open the door and let me in, okay?"

"Don't open it!"

Melody hesitated.

Just then her phone rang. It was Cornelius's grandmother.

"Melody, I'm having some health trouble and have to stay at the hospital overnight for observation. Cornelius says the power's out at home and he's scared to be alone. Could I trouble you to look after him for the night?"

I shouted at once, "Don't say yes—she's lying to you!"

Melody frowned at me. "Bella, you've been acting up all day. I don't want to waste words with you."

She said yes to Genevieve, opened the door briskly, and Cornelius squeezed in right away.

When he saw me all bristling like a hedgehog, he deliberately hunched his shoulders and hid behind Melody.

He said softly, "Melody, I can just sleep on the couch."

"No way! He's staying in my room. I'm sleeping with you!"

Melody paused, but didn't object. She carried my pillow and blanket into her room and made up a fresh bed for Cornelius.

I quietly slipped the key out of the door, and after closing it, I quickly locked it from the outside.

Melody's face darkened instantly.

"Bella, what are you doing?"

I pulled her back into her room, shut the door, locked it, and lowered my voice.

"Melody, he's going to hurt you."

Melody's face was already grim.

"Bella, why are you saying things like that about Cornelius?"

My nose stung, and I looked up at her.

"Sis, I saw pictures of you on his phone."

Melody froze.

"What pictures?"

"Lots of them. Some of your face, some of your whole body."

"And some of here."

I pointed to her chest and her backside.

Melody's expression changed.

"When did you see them?"

"Yesterday. His phone was open to the photo album, and the screen wasn't locked."

"Bella, could you have seen it wrong?"

I shook my head hard.

"No, I saw it clearly. I asked him, and he said he bumped the camera by accident and took them by mistake."

"But that's not what it looked like. Those photos were even clearer than the ones you take of me."

In my past life, he really did have plenty of photos of Melody on his phone.

So saying this wasn't unfair to him.

Melody's expression grew heavy.

"Bella, maybe it really is a coincidence."

"Then what about him touching you on purpose?"

"Sis, he brushed up against you several times today, and he even put his arm around your waist. Several times the way he looked at you wasn't like a slow person—it was like a grown man."

Melody's hand trembled.

Her eyes went through the door, toward my room.

She didn't say anything, but her hands clenched without her meaning to.

I knew it. She was starting to believe me.

She turned the lock, making sure it was fastened.

She lifted me onto the bed and stroked my head.

"Bella, go to sleep. I'm right here, don't be scared."

I closed my eyes, but I couldn't sleep soundly.

Half asleep, I heard banging on the door and jerked awake.

"Sis, Cornelius is out there."

Melody sat up and covered my mouth.

After listening a moment, I could tell it was Cornelius shouting from inside my room.

"Melody, I need to pee, but the door won't open."

"I can't hold it anymore!"

Melody's foot moved.

I grabbed hold of her tightly.

"Melody, don't go. He's lying to you."

Melody hesitated, but in the end she didn't move.

But the banging didn't stop, and Cornelius's shouting grew louder and louder.

"Melody, please, open the door. I really can't hold it anymore."

"My tummy hurts so much, Melody. I want my grandma!"

Melody's body shook faintly; her mind and her body were locked in a fierce struggle.

She wanted to go, but she was afraid what I'd said was true.

I clung to her, refusing to let her move.

"Melody, don't believe him. He'll do something bad to you."

Melody went rigid and stopped moving entirely.

Cornelius's crying suddenly stopped.

Then he threw open the window and shouted outside.

"Melody's asleep and won't open the door. I need to pee—Grandma, Cornelius can't hold it anymore!"

Less than two minutes later, someone came pounding on the front door.