The next morning, the sun had just begun to warm the cool air of the vineyard when Antonio and I were jolted awake by the sound of Aria’s terrified screams.
“Aria”, Antonio said to me with worry on his face.
Instinctively, we both jumped out of bed and dashed across the hall to her room, hearts pounding with worry. In the hallway, we numbed into my parents who looked equally worried.
Bursting through the door, we found a scene far from what we had feared but disturbing nonetheless. Mason was on the floor, doubled over in laughter, with a Betty Boop mask discarded next to him. Aria was sitting up in her bed, tears streaming down her cheeks and a look of absolute terror on her face.
I rushed to Aria, lifting her into my arms to comfort her. "Sweetheart, what happened?" I asked, brushing
