“My 76-Year-Old Grandpa Took Me Into the Woods Every Day and Made Me Undress Until I Was Half-Naked. But One Day, My Mother Secretly Followed Us and Heard Strange Screams Coming From Deep Inside the Forest. When She Got Closer and Saw What We Were Actually Doing, Her Heart Couldn’t Take It. She Fell to Her Knees and Burst Into Tears…”

One evening, she found me sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at my hands.

“Emily?”

I looked up.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Mom.”

She sat beside me.

“You’ve said that every day for weeks. But you don’t look fine.”

I forced a smile.

“I’m just tired.”

“From what?”

I had no answer.

She gently brushed a strand of hair away from my face.

“Sweetheart, you’re twenty years old. I know you don’t have to tell me everything. But if somebody is putting pressure on you, I need you to know that you can talk to me.”

My throat tightened.

For one terrible moment, I wanted to tell her everything.

I wanted to explain the forest, the stream, the strange instructions, and the secret that had become too heavy for me to carry.

But I remembered Grandpa’s words.

If your mother finds out what we’re doing there, everything will be over.