Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 113051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Somewhere in the middle, there is this other Sydney, another version of myself. One who fell in love and made a home for herself here. One who found family in the lodge, who never went back to California but stayed at Madrona year-round.
Did I…work here?
Yes. I worked here.
The realization dawns on me as I kick closer, trying to avoid the rocks. It’s too dark to see anything, but I aim for a gentle slope under the trees where the shoreline looks more manageable, and it’s here where the waves slam me into the shore, pounding me into the pebbles.
I gasp, spitting out seawater, and then crawl up on the beach. My body is starting to shake, and I know the hypothermia will set in soon if I don’t get warm.
I manage to stagger to my feet, my sneakers sliding on the pebbles, and toss the life ring to the side. I glance over my shoulder at Mithrandir, bobbing up and down in the inlet as it slowly moves away.
What if you made a mistake? I can’t help but think. What if Wes was telling the truth?
I can’t think about that now. I’m here. He’s there. And I don’t know what to think. Where to begin. Even before all of this, he was acting erratic. Dangerous. He tied me up. He wouldn’t let me call for help. He was kidnapping me. None of those things suggest he’s someone with my best interests at heart.
But he loved you. He loved you.
I walk up the shore, my feet numb, but I keep going, making my way through the woods. I hear the trees whisper to me, but they don’t bother me anymore, not when I know what’s happened. Of course I can hear them; we’re all connected by the same things. We are one.
But even though the lodge didn’t seem very far at first, the more that I walk, the harder it is to keep moving. I can’t feel my feet, my heart rate is slowing, and it’s getting hard to breathe. My body won’t stop shivering, my teeth chattering so violently I’m afraid I’m going to chip a tooth.
You died, I remind myself. You fucking died, and you’re worried about a tooth.
I keep going.
Eventually, I see lights through the trees.
“Help,” I call out, but I’m too weak to make a sound. I’m too weak to even think of a plan.
What was my plan again?
I escaped Wes, and now…I tell Everly?
The very Everly that probably cut my brain open?
She was trying to save you though, I tell myself. Everly was your friend. Think of the photos. Think of those moments.
I stumble out of the forest and collapse right outside one of the staff cabins.
“Help,” I cry out again, louder this time. “Help me.”
But the storm is too loud.
So I crawl, pulling myself forward over the dirt until I reach the path, and then I crawl to the front door and start pounding on it with all the strength that I have.
Suddenly, I hear footsteps on the other side.
The door opens.
A flashlight points down at me.
“Sydney?” It’s David’s voice. “Oh my lord.”
I stare up at him. “I think I might have killed Wes,” I croak.
His eyes widen, and then he’s reaching down and pulling me to my feet and bringing me into his cabin. He puts me on the couch and wraps a blanket around me, then picks up his walkie-talkie as he goes around and starts lighting candles and emergency lanterns.
“Everly? We have a situation here. I have Sydney in my cabin. I think something happened between her and Wes.”
The radio crackles. “I’ll be right there.”
He puts it down and looks down at me. “What happened?”
I can’t even answer I’m shivering so hard.
“Fuck,” he swears. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him swear before, but then I remember what he’s like when he loses at poker.
He disappears down the hall, and then when he comes back, he’s got an emergency kit with him. He unzips it and rips open a silver space blanket.
“Before I use this, I’m going to have to take off your clothes and put you in dry ones,” he says. “Do you consent to that?”
I snort. Just like I consented to being an experiment?
He gives me an odd look and then takes my sweater off, then my jeans. I make it extra awkward for him since I can barely help.
“I re-remember,” I manage to say, teeth chattering. “What a sore l-loser you are.”
He pauses to give me an incredulous look.
“At poker,” I finish.
His eyes widen, brows reaching the ceiling.
He knows that I know.
His hands are shaking now as he slips a crewneck sweater over me just as Everly and Michael come bursting through the door.
“What the hell happened?” Everly asks. “Syd, are you okay?”
David looks at them tersely. “I think she knows.”