[She has laid her bait by now. She's done what she was trained to do, once and again by two men who she called father. She is a little calmer, but not much, sitting at the edge of her bed with her hands folded in her lap and her eyes closed. Now her hands are clean, the blood washed off in Stephanie's sink.]
I'm here. [She's here; she is present; she is alive; she is solid.] Come in.
[She trusts him and doesn't trust him. She doesn't trust the way she trusts him, instinctively, like there's no way not to. But she wants him close all the same, wants to cling to his shirtfront and cry, wants to talk to him like an adult, like she hasn't talked to anyone in ages.]
no subject
I'm here. [She's here; she is present; she is alive; she is solid.] Come in.
[She trusts him and doesn't trust him. She doesn't trust the way she trusts him, instinctively, like there's no way not to. But she wants him close all the same, wants to cling to his shirtfront and cry, wants to talk to him like an adult, like she hasn't talked to anyone in ages.]
[It's all very confusing.]