Page 171 of Voices

“No! Charlie!” I wail into his chest. “I’m so sorry…please…I can’t lose you. I can’t.” Sobs wrack my body so hard that it becomes hard to breathe, but that only reminds me of his panic attacks and how long he’s been fighting, and it makes me cry harder. “I-I can’t…you’re my everything. My fucking heart belongs to you. Only ever you.” I’m squeezing him so tight that I don’t know where I end, and he begins.

I hear Ryder call 911, but I can’t let Charlie go. Not now, not like this. Maybe if I hold onto him tight enough, he’ll come back.

“I love you so much, beautiful. Please don’t go.”

Chapter Forty-One

Charlie

“Come on, Charlie! We’re gonna be late!”

Slowly opening my eyes, I see my childhood friend, Skylar, spinning around in a bright meadow. Looking up, I see that I’m leaning against the giant tree from the woods near school. Looking back at Skylar, I notice that he’s still eight, not twenty-one like he should be.

“Where are we?” I ask as I get to my feet.

Sky dances up to me with his signature bright smile. “This is the place to escape it all!” His light green eyes glisten as he starts spinning around again.

Walking into the sunlight, I realize that I’m no longer in pain. My arm isn’t in intense pain, there’s no more stinging from my ass, and my head feels…clear. So clear that the dark cloud that follows me, is gone.

“Let’s go, slow poke! He’s over there waiting. He points to the left but all I can see are more wildflowers and butterflies, reminding me of the meadow I saw the Red Spotted Purple Butterfly at my uncle’s cabin.

Scrunching my brows, I follow him as he dances that way.

“Who?”

Skylar lets out a laugh as he spins and suddenly, we’re at my uncle’s cabin. It’s night now and I’m in the clearing I used to fall asleep in while looking at the stars. The fire pit is lit with a low flame and my blue sleeping bag is sprawled out on the wooden picnic table.

I’m about to ask him what’s going on but when I turn around, he’s gone.

“Sky?”

“Hey there, Sprout.”

Spinning back around, I freeze.

“U-uncle Lewis?”

“The one and only,” he says with a crooked smile.

I haven’t seen him since he drove away after dropping us off that last summer before high school.

Rushing up to him, I wrap my arms around his midsection and inhale his scent that smells like trees and wilderness.

“Why did you leave me with him? Why didn’t you ever come back,” I mumble into his flannel shirt as it absorbs my tears.

He strokes the back of my head like he used to do when I was a kid.

“I tried, Sprout. I had it all set up for you to move in with me. I even printed out your school information for a transfer. But,” he tilts my head up to look into the same golden brown eyes as his, “your father decided last minute that he couldn’t have a son living on a mountain. Said I’d turn you into a wild animal.” He scoffs.

“But he hates me. Why wouldn’t he take that opportunity to get rid of me?”

“Charlie,” he cradles my face in his huge hands, “you are the sweetest kid with the biggest heart. I’ve done nothing but beat myself up these last couple of years for not taking you with me.” He drops his hands and walks to the dwindling fire. “Your father is a powerful man and when he makes a threat, it’s not to be taken lightly.” He stares blankly into the fire. “He told me that if I ever so much as breath in your direction again, he’d light my house on fire. Living on the mountain, surrounded by trees and other families,” he shakes his head looking up at me, “I couldn’t risk him burning down the entire forest.”

“It’s because he knew that you knew what he was doing to me, isn’t it.”

He nods sadly. “I saw the marks on your back and the way you were limping that summer. I knew my brother had an anger problem, but I didn’t think he’d use it on his own son.”

We stand in silence until the fire becomes glowing embers.

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