Chapter Forty-Seven
The morning brought no relief from the cold, gray drizzle that had settled over the compound. By noon, the air was thick and damp, matching the heavy fog inside my own head.
After hours of pacing the empty bedroom, the walls had begun to feel like they were closing in on me. The memory of Jake’s voice on the static-heavy phone line still lingered in my mind, but it was overshadowed by the looming presence of the green book on the shelf. I needed to breathe. I needed to step away from the secrets, the guilt, and the suffocating silence of his quarters.
I decided to walk down to the quiet garden near the back of the chapel. It was a small, overgrown patch of green enclosed by high stone walls, where wild ivy climbed the brick and the noise of the garage was muffled. Ja
