James's POV

I rushed down the stairs, not stopping even when I missed a stair and almost sprained my ankle. The kitchen was the first place my feet took me and I was filled with relief when I saw my mum standing over the counter.

Her back was turned to me. She seemed busy. No not busy. She was staring into space and I knew she'd zoomed off again. And when she did, she was absent. Absent enough to not hear a scream as disrupting as the one I heard up in my room.

"Mum?"

She jumped startled.

I grunted chanting "I'm not gonna cry" in my head because I...