Hi everyone, this is Mathieu. I know I haven’t left one of these in so long, but as MBTA inches towards the 250K view milestone I feel it’s necessary to. I’m on holiday now, going through a phase of rediscovering myself and falling in love with life again. Its made me sort of a hermit, left me reflecting on a lot of things such as the fact that as I write these words, I’m in the same room I was in when I started this book, where I hit publish. Where I never, ever imagined that it would be this well received. (CONTINUED IN COMMENTS.)
Layla’s POV“Before I get into any of that, I must first tell you why I say I have been actively dying for the past two decades now,” Malcolm began, tone brisk as he readjusted in his chair using his walking stick while I struggled to keep up with the abrupt shift in conversation.“In your time here
In it, the man was said to be a great healer of himself and others, and after many years of this, figuring that what could give life would also be able to take it, he made a deal with ‘the devil.’”At this, my mouth twisted with scepticism, and my grandfather noticing this gave a dismissive wave.“O
I listened to all of this like I was in a trance, with a looming sense of growing horror that made me want to throw the windows at the far corner of the room and scream into the trees just so I would see the birds scatter.Anything in that moment would’ve been better, I thought to myself, as Malcolm
Layla’s POVThe skin on my forehead creased as I drew back to give Malcolm a long hard look, and I was sure that the expression on my face accurately summed up the emotions running through me as I seized him up.To the old man’s credit, he didn’t look away. In fact, he maintained steady eye contact
There was no need for words, I realised, because even when I was laughing I’d known on a deep level that he was being dead serious with me.It was just that accepting it happened to be an entirely different thing altogether.But now it was sinking in, and I felt the knowledge spread through me with
Layla’s POVMalcolm knew that with such an offer, he would have me exactly where he wanted me. Almost as if to further prove his point, the old man got up from his seat with a heaving sigh, fingers tight around the walking stick as he stood to his full height and cast a final look at me before slow
On my part, I felt my nerves fire up all at once at the sight of him so near within my grasp, and when he started to move I too took a step forward, closing the distance between us until we were standing, staring into each other’s eyes.For a split second it felt like everything had paused around us
Layla’s POVOnce more, I was left fearing the worst while I waited for a response. Hector, sensing my agitation, gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze and it helped a long way in gathering up every little bit of willpower I could muster to not repeat myself again, though each second that passed by