Page 25 of A Curse On Black Lake
He moved to Black Lake with his family, next door to my house. The way our house sits covers five acres of land, for the garden. That’s how it’s been since before Grams was born. He was as close as neighbors are out here. I didn’t have any friends. Eventually, I preferred it that way.
But one day Eddy came into the garden and started asking me questions. We hit it off, and he was amazed I knew so much about plants and animals. Every day he got home from school, he would come and ask what I learned that day, and I would tell him about the plant or tincture I made.
We grew up together. He might have even been my first love, though I’m not sure.
I take a deep breath, releasing it. There is a reason I keep everyone at a distance, too afraid to get close. Yet terrified of being alone.
He was the only friend I had aside from Grams. Now I have no one.
You need to leave. Someone is coming.The Spirits tell me.
I sit up and look around, there’s no one here. But I don’t question them and get to my feet.
Pressing a kiss to my fingers, I place it on Grams’s grave and get back on my bike to go home.
While I pedal down the empty road, I keep checking over my shoulder to see if a car is coming. Killian fixed my wheel enough to make it work, but it still wiggles back and forth a little since it’s not perfectly straight. I have to find another rim, or I’ll have to walk to make deliveries from now on … because I don’t have enough to do.
I wonder what Killian thinks about our interaction. It’s not like I intended to meet him the way we did, but there are no coincidences in Black Lake. My gut tells me we were meant tofall togetherthis way. But I probably scared him away because I came on too strong. I’m trying to follow what my Grams and the Spirits have asked of me, but it looks like it might be a little harder than I anticipated.
He’s a tough man with a thick exterior, but based on the way he carried me out of the ditch, I can sense a softness to him. Not that I’ll be going anywhere near that. We’re supposed to be some kind of cosmic team. That’s all I’ve got, so I’m rolling with it.
I hear a truck coming up behind me and quickly pull off to the side of the road to hop off my bike so I don’t give anyone an opening again. The truck drives past me, and I give it a minute, making sure they don’t turn around. They don’t come back, so I get back on my bike with only about a mile to go.
When I get home, it’s pitch black outside. The clouds blanket the moon. I’m exhausted, my leg hurts, and the concern I failed my Grams makes my stomach churn. I should be hungry, but I’m not.
You need to try harder, child.
“I don’t know how to convince him. Maybe I should tell him something I would have no logical way of knowing. Or maybe that would make it worse.”
For most people, we believe it would make it worse.The Spirits say.
“So then what am I supposed to do? It feels like I’m on a clock here, but I don’t know what I’m counting down towards.”
All I hear is silence.
“Thank you for your guidance,” I mumble, heading for the shower.
A heavy sigh leaves my lungs, and I tip my head back into the water. An ache so precise rips through my sternum, puncturingmy lungs and shredding my heart with its thorns. Poison leaks through my veins and stuns my soul. I moan in pain as tears cloud my vision with the water pouring over my hair. I’m crumbling into pieces. I hate this. I hate that I’m without her. I hate that I have to learn to live life in a way I never wanted to face. Maybe I’m wrong for it, yes, I was aware of the reality that she would die one day. But … I wanted longer. Ineededlonger with her. I don’t know how to be this kind of alone because so far it’s only been full of pain, grief, and exhaustion. How am I supposed to live again? But then again, I’m not sure I waslivingwhen she was alive. All I did was work, exactly like I am now. The only difference is I don’t have my Grams.
But there is Killian.
I groan and force myself to stand up straight. “He clearly has no interest in being my friend.”
He needs time.The Spirits say.
“Whatever you say,” I mumble and picture his face. He’s rugged, unkempt, and his dark eyes are ensnaring. I have no business looking at him like that, but he isn’tbadto look at.
With Killian on my mind, I get myself out of the shower and into bed, too tired to do more than put on a t-shirt.
Chapter eleven
Killian
Thefogsitsheavy,obscuring my surroundings. Trees stand tall and foreboding around me as if they are looking down, watching every move I make.
My heart pounds, and sweat collects at the base of my spine. Where am I? Am I home? Why am I outside?
“Help me! Help!” a girl screams.
