Page 261 of Ominous: Part 1
When her message comes through, it’s enough to quiet every thought in my mind that isn’t about her. Her.Her.
Eden: I love you, too.
I think, really… that’s all that matters.
But hours later, when she’s asleep and we’ve said our goodnights, and I’m tossing and turning and scrolling through cars on my phone, I remember what she said.
Her answer to my question.
The thing she would want to get away with if she could. A crime.
I would keep you.
And I don’t feel so great anymore.
Instead, getting out of bed, stumbling toward the bathroom and flipping on the light, examining the bruise forming beside my eye, the snot dripping down over my lips, I just feel a little lost.
42
Eden
“Didyou see anyone we used to know?” Sebastian is crouched by my open window, a cigarette between his fingers, night fallen a few hours after Mom and I got back today after staying another night. He turns his head to blow smoke through the screen, the forest dark and alive beyond it.
I’m leaning against the wall adjacent my bed, legs draped over the mattress horizontally, my phone in my hands. Both of us are in pajamas. Through Sebastian’s white T-shirt, I see the knobs of his shoulders and the line of his biceps, not from strength, but the opposite of that.
It’s uncomfortable, watching his ruin.
He doesn’t want to talk about it.
I don’t know what to say.
I glance at my notebook, closed and face down beside me, my green pen thrown atop it. Sebastian is in the story I’m plotting out too, alongside Eli. They have different names, but at the end of my fictional manuscript, the boy who is Sebastian will die.
I bend my knees, drawing them up to my chest under my sheets. I think about my sigil notebook, tucked away in my drawer. I’ve still never conjured up magic for any boy but Eli.
Guilt rests heavy on my shoulders.
“Yeah,” I tell my brother as I lean my head against the wall, clutching my phone on my thigh. “Amanda.”
Sebastian glances at me. Our eyes stay locked for long seconds, and I know he’s wondering about anyone else I might have seen. I can see the guilt in his face, illuminated by the cherry of his cigarette and the lamp on my nightstand.Who else?It’s in the crinkle of his eyes, the way he’s unnaturally still.
“Mom had a good time,” I continue, dropping the subject, letting him off the hook. “She talked my head off, you know, but we went to that pancake place—”
“Slap Jack’s?” Sebastian brings his cigarette to his lips, turning from me, finally.
I nod, thinking of my stomachache from yesterday after so many pancakes. “Yeah.” I flip my phone over, but Eli hasn’t responded to me yet. “How was Reece?” I can’t stand him, but the single second of happiness on his face when Mom walked in earlier was almost enough to make me soften toward him.
“How he always is,” Seb says, dismissive. “An asshole.”
“Did you two hang out?”
Sebastian cuts his eyes to me, arching a brow as if to say,are you fucking serious?“No.” He snorts. “He cut the lawn at like, eight in the fucking morning today. Started on my side of the house, so you know, I slept well.”
“Might help if you came home before sunrise.” I shrug, smiling at his scowl.
“Whatever.” He goes back to staring out the window.
Silence stretches on until I can’t stand it anymore. “Sebastian.” I keep staring at my screen to keep from looking up to meet my brother’s eye.
