Jillian When I went home, I found that it was my mother who suffered the consequences of my absence. However, much to my relief, my father was already out cold from his drinking. I did a quick job treating my mom's wounds, which turned out to be less serious than I thought, then quickly retreated to my room. The next day, I was up before the sun rose, doing all my tasks. Once everything was in order, I grabbed my things and hightailed out of the house. The chances of my luck holding for a second day was minimal but I wanted to seize every opportunity I got. I didn't realize then that by playing with fire so much, I'd get burned all the worse. It was still early in the morning when I arrived at Callum's house. I stood in front of his gate, hesitating over my next step. He was surely still

