’He sank down on the stool, supporting his crossed armsover my knees as I protested, ‘Not like this.’He snapped his fingers and conditioning too... over. Myeyes locked onto him, my mind and body going still as Irefocused on him, the small impersonal room fading away.‘Talk.’I wasn’t allowed to look away, but I couldn’t meet hisgaze. I slid my attention to his eyebrows. On one hand Ihated this sort of intense interest in my thought process.On the other hand, this was exactly why I chose to. I began mouth-to-mouth while Darlene called 911. The paramedics gave him several doses of Narcan and that brought him back from the brink. When he came to, he was furious with us and started a scene. The paramedics subdued him and took him to the mental hospital on a seventy-two hour hold. In the meantime the cops found enough heroin to charge him with possession.”“Oh, God,” Sierra said.“We all pitched in and hired an attorney, who persuaded the judge to put him in a first-time offenders. A shaft of light was emanating from the front door. Frowning, at first he waited just in case Bern had gone for a walk, as she often did to take photos of the night wildlife. Five minutes had past and he had to make a decision. Creeping stealthily towards the door, he waited and listened, silence. Pushing at the door, just enough to squeeze through, he entered the hallway.The sound of his own heartbeat was the only sound to filter through the blackness in which he found himself immersed.. Really, Nancy was a possessive bitch.Wearing shoes, Chloe walked through the living room, where Todd was working, to the kitchen in the back of the house. Nancy looked up at her. Chloe opened the door. Nobody could be in the yard to see her, and it wasn’t all that cold out. Still, she stood behind the door and shivered while Nancy sauntered out into the yard. The look she gave Chloe was as explicit as if the message had been engraved: “You’re not in charge. I don’t have to go out unless I.