On the other end of the line, Xavier Lockwood fell abruptly silent. After a long moment, he finally spoke. "Summer Thorne, this isn't funny."
"Then just assume I'm going crazy," Summer Thorne said. "Bottom line, I'm telling you I saw Esther Hughes. Are you coming back or not?"
"Have you been under too much stress lately?" Xavier Lockwood asked. "Has Timothy York been tormenting you somehow?"
"Xavier Lockwood," Summer Thorne repeated, enunciating each word. "I saw Esther Hughes, alive. A living, breathing Esther Hughes! If you think I'm going crazy, then come back and save me. Tell me to my face that I've really lost my mind."
After ending the call with Xavier Lockwood, Summer Thorne was still in a daze.
Even though she had insisted so forcefully to Xavier Lockwood on the phone, the moment she hung up, she couldn't help but wonder: had the world gone mad, or had she?
