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Chapter 18
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The silver circle. The ring in mom’s jewelry box. The five princes. Bea. The sea witch.
Try as I might, I still can’t quite piece together the mystery I’ve stepped into. Words, tunes, images and ideas swirl through my mind all the way back to the cabin, as I puzzle over the greater meaning – but I’m still as lost as ever.
From time to time a bird or a squirrel darts through the leafy labyrinth of branches overhead, scattering the early morning sunlight and bringing me to a standstill.
Even now, I feel like there’s someone or something following me, just a few steps behind at all times. I turn around every few minutes to check, but all I see is green, and more green.
My parents were surprisingly relaxed about the shattered coffee table. I thought they were just trying not to make a scene in front of my friends, but they didn’t even mention it after Zee and Grace drove off with Jamie (who w
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“Lame. Lame lame lame lame.”Kitty leans against the hood of the black Jeep parked at the Forest Park entrance.“I don’t have the car keys,” she says. “They’re at the cabin.”No surprise there, after Kitty and I practically ran away from the cabin without warning, Kitty in nothing but a silk nightgown and her slippers.I look back in the direction of the forest. It’s at least a forty-minute walk back to the cabin, and after our grand exit in front of Felix and Alastaire, I’d feel really stupid going back.“Let’s go to my house,” I say. “You can borrow some of my clothes. And we can probably take my mom’s car or something.”“No,” says Kitty firmly. “There’s no time for dealing with the parentals. Let’s just go straight into town. It’s ju
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“You’re safe now. it’s over.” Thunder booms through the sky overhead as I lunge into Felix’s arms. I press my face against his chest, burrowing into the cold rain-soaked fabric of his hoodie as I cry like I haven’t cried in ages. The rain is relentless, so loud that I can barely hear the words of reassurance Felix is whispering into my ear. Small rivulets of rainwater stream down my neck, my back, dripping from the hem of my sodden blue dress. Felix holds me tight in the wet embrace, and we stand like that for a while, two bedraggled teens getting drenched by the thunderstorm at the back of a dark alleyway. Eventually I stop crying, but I can’t stop shaking – whether out of cold or shock, I’m not sure. I release my hold on Felix, stepping back and wiping the tears from my face, even though it’s pointless with the constant downpour, so heavy we might as well be underwater. We sta
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Although the storm is still raging above us, we’re somewhat sheltered beneath the forest canopy.We walk in silence, Felix holding my hand firmly as we make our way through the dark. Kitty’s a few steps behind us, struggling over roots and leaf litter in her stilettos, which she refuses to take off. Her reasoning? She says she has plenty of Louboutins, but only one pair of feet.I can barely see two feet in front of me, but somehow Felix seems to know exactly where he’s going. From time to time I look up at the dark leafy veil of leaves overhead. I can see heavy black clouds through the gaps, lit purple by streaks of brilliant lightning forking through the air.Even as Kitty and I shriek when a loud peal of thunder roars above us like a giant’s war cry, there’s not so much as a flinch from Felix. Without missing a beat, he continues leading us forward through the woodland gloom, impervious
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You already know where to find me, Ash. You already know.I wake up gasping for air.Mia’s fleeting voice rings in my ears, her final words an echoing whisper that fades into silence.I can’t hear the wind or the rain anymore. The storm must have passed.Wan starlight shines through the window – it’s still dark outside, probably a few hours until sunrise.I don’t have much time.I slip out of bed, shivering as it dawns on me that I fell asleep wearing my rain-soaked silk dress. I’m in too much of a hurry to get changed into something warmer, so I pull the cream-colored chunky knit blanket off the end of the bed, and wrap it around myself before slipping on a pair of flats.As quietly as I can, I open my bedroom door, and creep stealthily down the passageway, sure that at any moment one of the old wooden
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Warm. It’s so soft and warm here.I’m curled up on my side, cozy as a caterpillar wrapped up a cocoon of velvet sunshine, sleepily waking up to greet the new day.It’s a new day.I bolt upright in bed, the events before I passed out rushing back to me.I was in a clearing in the forest with Felix. He kissed me. And he changed, or at least he appeared to – he became the figure from my dreams, the dark prince from Gran’s fairy tale.What the hell is happening to me? Was I hallucinating? Having some sort of vision?He called me a name – Odin or Onion or something – and then… nothing.It all went black.And now I’m back in my bedroom at home, far from the forest and the cabin and (hopefully) Felix.He must have carried me here after I f
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Wait.My voice sounds hollow and distant, like it’s coming from far away. Felix hovers over me, a darkness dawning in his eyes as I speak.“Wait, Felix,” I whisper. “This isn’t… I can’t do this.”His dark hair falls in front of his eyes, and he pushes it back as he nods, releasing me as he sits up, leaning his back against the trunk of the tree we lie beneath.I stay on my back for a few moments, trying to catch my breath as I stare up at the canopy of brilliant bright red leaves overhead. As I watch, a single, delicate leaf drifts down, landing on my breast like a drop of blood.Felix reaches for it with a faraway look in his eyes, his fingertips leaving echoes of prickling electricity where they brush my skin.He holds the frail crimson leaf up into the silver moonlig
