The man shakes his head and I can see tears bubbling in his eyes. My lip quivers as tears start to bubble in my own eyes. I rush to the man who has been gone from my life for far too long and hug him.
We pull away and laugh at finally seeing each other again. Our noses are starting to run and our eyes are all puffy and red and we're doing that weird crying-gasp-breathing technique and it makes us laugh harder. For a moment we both forget about Nessie lying unconscious next to us. We are suddenly jolted back to the present when she moans.
I look down as Nessie's arm jerks out and grasps my ankle, holding it fast in dry, blood-smeared hands. “He... promised...” she gasps in rage.
“What are you talking about Nessie?” My dad asks, shaking his head. The motion is too much. He begins to sway, and his breathing becomes shallow. I easily drag him to the ground (probably too quickly) and tell him to sit still.
“If...” Nessie begins. I can tell every word is a pain. “If... he... had kep... his prom'se... you can't... see us...” her voice fades away and her eyes close. My own widen and I reach out towards her when I notice that her side is rising and falling slowly.
What she was trying to say makes sense. I shouldn't be able to see my father or Nessie right now. At that moment in time the two people before me begin to fade. Not movie style where it looks all fake, but they just seem to get harder and harder to make out. I can't see the details of Nessie's face anymore and my father's ragged and worn clothes become blurs. Then a bright light shines into my vision momentarily blinding me. I shield my face with my hands and then peer out from under them, trying to make out Nessie and my father.
They're just vague shapes to me now.
“Nessie? Daddy?” I blink to clear my vision and then I'm simply sitting in the grass near a small cave, whole and healthy and alone. Nature is my only companion.
“No?!” I try to yell; confusion sweeps over me. “Nessie! Don't leave me again!” I crawl forward to where she had been laying and desperately try to feel for her. There's nothing there.
“GAAAAHH!!!!” I sit back and cross my legs. Another thought strikes me: Where are Skylar and Nessie's family and all the others?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I twist my head feebly and look up. Annie is gone. Again. The shadow man has not completely released his hold on her. She could see us. A single tear slips down my cheek. It makes me mad. What? These things don't— Why should this—
My thoughts are awry. I can't complete them. I'm not even aware of Mr. Marsh anymore. It's hopeless to escape. There's nothing we can do now.
My ankle is broken (for sure), my foot is practically a lump of mangled flesh (it's black and blue and purple and green and bloody and swollen and twisted...), my face is covered in dirt and scratched, my wrists are cut and bleeding still. My ribs are bruised where the rock struck, my hair is tangled and dirty, my pajamas are torn and muddy and bloody, and I am losing my sanity.
I feel like dying... almost. I would if I didn't love my dad and my mom and Jason and Skylar and Piddle and Annie...
I don't know what to do. I can't submit to the shadow man. That's definitely out of the question. My thoughts begin to confuse themselves again and my mind slips worse and worse into delirium and trauma and insanity...
My breathing becomes ragged and I feel as though my lungs have shrunk to half their size. I gasp as it becomes harder and harder. Before I lose all memory of what happens hereafter there is of only one thing I am certain: this is not a dream.
YOU ARE READING
The Endless Night
Action"...never walk out alone..." Rumors have haunted the property around the little cottage for years. Vanessa Görtz and her family have just moved in and her parents are taking these rumors seriously. Vanessa decides to take matters into her own hands...
