Beyond the Veil

Chapter 20

Sera woke up in the morning and sat on the edge of her bed, staring blankly at the wall in front of her. She did not sleep much last night. The memory of what had happened in the forest was still fresh in her mind, and she couldn't shake the feeling of terror that had taken hold of her.

She honestly couldn't believe she was alive.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that what had scared her the most was not the monster Sam turned out to be, but Saul.

She realized she had begun to care for him, she wanted to be around him, wanted to confide in him, she felt safe with him. All of that energy she felt in the forest all of that time, the safety, the protection, the welcoming... it was all him. Yet all along he was a creature beyond her understanding. A creature with unimaginable power. A murderer.

All the secrets, all the lies, all the coverups. It all made sense now. There was an entire world that existed under her nose.

She still couldn't understand it. He had appeared out of nowhere, a ghostly figure with a cold and distant look in his eyes. And yet, he had saved her from certain death with ease, as if it were nothing.

The events of the past few days had left her feeling drained, scared, and alone. She couldn't shake the image of Saul, a monster who had saved her from her attacker. A monster that warned her of danger, held her while she relayed her struggles, and worried for her when she needed it most. A monster who had lied to her, kept secrets from her, brainwashed those around her, and enticed her into a forest that contained creatures worse than she could have ever imagined. His appearance had been terrifying, his actions violent, and yet, in the end, he had protected her. The contradiction was overwhelming.

As she sat there, lost in thought, a realization hit her. She isn't safe here. She needed to get away from this school. She needed to get away from the constant fear and confusion that had become her daily life.

Maybe this would be a good time to see her family.

The thought of seeing her parents filled her with a mix of emotions. On one hand, she longed for something other than what she was living. However, there was a reason why she didn't call and hasn't followed up since she left. But she knew that she couldn't continue on like this, that she needed to take a step back and regroup.

Sera stood up from her bed, determined to make the necessary arrangements for her trip. As she gathered her things, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of sadness. She had spent the last few months thinking she was imagining things. She had endured months of thinking she was crazy, thinking she needed therapy. She'd have so much rather been wrong about everything. She wished every one of her suspicions weren't true and that she had imagined every second of it.

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Sera was surrounded by piles of clothes and various items she needed to pack for her trip to her parent's house. She looked around her room, feeling a strange sense of nostalgia as she realized how much she had changed since she had first moved in.

She picked up a photo frame from her dresser and gazed at the picture inside: her and her parents, smiling and posing in front of a mountain range during a family vacation. She hadn't seen them in months, and the thought of seeing them again brought both comfort and anxiety.

Sera returned the frame to its spot on the dresser and turned back to her packing. She grabbed a large suitcase from her closet and began to fold her clothes neatly, carefully placing them inside.

As she packed, she couldn't help but reflect on how her life had been turned upside down and that her solution was to run away from it all. Maybe she wasn't totally running away... she saw her trip to her parents' house as an opportunity to take a step back and breathe. She needed to escape the chaos of her current situation, if only for a little while.