Deborah didn't say anything, unable to find her voice for the lump in her throat, but she nodded her head and lifted the sheets and blankets next to her, inviting her son to her bed. With a huge smile that Deborah saw flash in the gloom, Jason stepped into her room, closing the door behind him and plunging both him and his mother into darkness.

***

***

Deborah took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing pulse as the door quietly clicked shut and she could no longer make out Jason's moving form in the darkness.

Jason swallowed as he gently closed the door behind him. When he turned...