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Chapter 32
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2024-10-29 19:42:56It’s midmorning by the time we arrive at the entrance to the Oswald West State Park.
Unsurprisingly, there are a few other cars in the carpark – it’s a popular area after all, a suggested daytrip mentioned in just about every Oregon travel guide on account of the magnificent scenery and countless hiking trails.
At least the beach probably won’t be crowded – Smuggler’s Cove is a popular surfing spot, but it’s too far from Portland for casual beachgoers. Alix mentioned it to me one time. He said Smuggler’s Cove has the best waves along the whole coast, and there’s meant to be some sort of waterfall cascading down into the ocean on one side of the beach.
I always thought it sounded nice, but I never really imagined myself coming here to check it out. Not after everything that happened.
The parking lot i
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It’s too late to hide.Alix and Zee are standing just a few feet away, their surfboards towering over me as they stare down in disbelief.“I thought you were visiting your aunt in New York for the summer,” Alix says, his voice barbed. “What’s going on?”“Ash? You know them?” Kitty asks, dropping her nail polish in the sand as I scramble to my feet.Zee tries to say something, but Alix cuts her off.“No, let Ash speak for herself,” he says.“It’s complicated,” I say. “I can explain.”“Damn right you’re going to explain,” Alix says.Before I can speak, I feel a hand on my shoulder, gently pulling me back. Alastaire steps between Alix and I, his sun-dazed champagne stupor gone in a flash.“And who exactl
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“And that’s how I ended up vomiting in Madonna’s handbag,” Ben says proudly, while Alix slaps him on the back, howling with laughter.The firelight flickers and dances around their faces, sparks flying in the air as they laugh so hard that tears stream from Ben’s eyes.Alix’s ultimatum to Zee of only staying an hour turned into two hours, then three, then the whole afternoon and late into the night.The availability of free beer and champagne might have something to do with it, plus the instant connection he formed with Ben.The second Ben heard that Alix was a drummer, they got talking about Keith Moon and Ringo Starr and techniques, and it was basically a case of insta-BFF.The rest of us have been burying Lyall in the sand, telling stupid stories, roasting marshmallows over the fire (even Felix) &
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A hush falls over the group as I step out of the darkness into the ring of light cast by the bonfire.I might have been walking up and down the beach for a few minutes. Or maybe a few hours. I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter.I lost track of the time, as the thoughts tumbled around in my head like the raging ocean just a few feet away.I thought about everything – the dreams, the silver ring I found in mom’s jewelry box, Mia’s grave, the accident, Evan, the worried looks my friends have been trying to hide from me all day – and I know what has to be done.I sit down between Zee and Elliot in front of the fire, crossing my legs beneath me.“Is everything alright Ash?” Elliot asks, his face glowing in the flamelight as he pokes the fire wit
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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
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Time passes. Maybe minutes, maybe hours. I stir to wakefulness, rising up out of a deep and dreamless sleep. The room is dark. I can hear Felix’s voice, soft and muffled. He’s singing Déjà Vu. Where is he? I sit up in bed with a jolt, wide awake, trying to trace the source of the sound. It’s distant, yet somehow very close… far away, but definitely in my bedroom. In fact, it’s in my bed. Silvery light bleeds out from beneath my pillow, a soft glow seeping into the dark. I lift my pillow and I almost can’t believe my eyes – it’s my long-lost phone. It’s been missing for ages, since my birthday. It purrs softly in my hand, and in a split second I’m both relieved to have finally found it, and bitterly disappointed to realise that the singing
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“Let go of me!” I hear Jade shout.It takes me a moment to make sense of the scene before me.The helicopter is hovering above us like a swollen obsidian dragonfly stirring the sky with metal wings, a rescue ladder dangling down, held by the scowling lady in black.She’s shouting “GO! GO! GO!” in the general direction of the boys.Kitty is half way up the ladder, her dress billowing around her legs.A huge man in a black suit is holding Jade back. Jade’s yelling Kitty’s name over and over, fighting to break away.For a moment Kitty stops climbing. She looks back over her shoulder at Jade, and I can see the pain written all over her face.But the lady in black looks up at her and shouts “DON’T STOP!”, and Kitty hurriedly turns her back on Jade and continues climbing, before disappearing int
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“Nothing’s over,” Jade says seriously, turning to face Kitty with a solemn expression. “I’m getting you out of here. We just need to find someplace quiet. Away from people. Where we can figure this whole thing out.”“'’Tis too late for al' dat,” I hear a soft Irish accent right next to my ear. ”We’ll 'av ter leave.”I snap my head around, face to face with the pretty girl in the pink dress. The girl who is so unusually strong, and whose lap I’m sitting on. The girl with Lyall’s voice. Lyall’s soft brown eyes. Lyall’s gentle bittersweet grin I know so well, sweetly smiling at me right now.“Lyall?!” I ask. My hands move faster than my manners - I pull the glittery pink mask away from his face and over his head.“Surprise,” Lyal
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They are upon us within seconds.The sound of screaming drowns out my thoughts, and I watch dazed as girls close in from all directions, their arms outstretched as they yell Felix and Alastaire’s names.The ground seems to shift beneath us, and the air all around us shimmers, vibrating with tension.A girl just a few feet away from me hold up her phone and takes a photo, and for a moment the flash blinds me, sending a sharp pain searing through the backs of my eyes.I tremble, the hysterical fangirl shrieks shuddering through my chest like the buzzing of a million bees.And as in any swarm, a queen leads the charge.Beth Donklin, our school’s undisputed Queen Bee, leader of the three B’s, Her Royal Bitchiness, is just a few feet in front of me.
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A pair of gleaming yellow eyes. Bristling fur, black as coal.And a row of teeth like little white knives flashing towards my throat.I jump off the bench in a heartbeat, and I hear the sharp snap of the wolf’s jaws closing on thin air, in the exact spot I was a moment before.I land hard on my back, knocking the air from my lungs. For a second everything’s a blur; I see the stars swimming in and out of focus between the swaying tree branches above me.A shadow moves into my vision, blocking out the starlight.I need to move. Now.But before I can spring into action, strong arms are around me, wrapping me up, lifting me onto my feet.“Are you ok?” A familiar voice asks.It takes a moment for my vision to clear.I step back, ready to bolt.The face I see
Lullaby (Fable Saga Book 2) Chapter 40
The bright golden moon hangs low and heavy in the black sky.Jamie, Grace, Zee and I make our way from the Huntson High car park towards the lawns, where a large, colorful crowd is milling about on the moonlit grass.In the distance, I see turrets, and I recognize the plywood castle backdrop from last year’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s been reworked into some sort of makeshift stage, complete with amps and overhead lights.I’ll be on that stage in an hour. In front of all those people. Somehow I’m not even nervous. Just extremely, utterly excited.“Walk faster ladies!” Jamie shrieks, tugging Zee behind her. “We’re gonna miss the chance to see Alix getting kissed by all the moms and grandmas! Maybe even grandpas! C’mon! Hurry!”“E
Lullaby (Fable Saga Book 2) Chapter 39
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
