Aurora Lockheart was once the sunshine girl-bright, kind, and full of life. But one night changed everything, leaving her a shadow of who she used to be.
A year later, just as she's beginning to think she'll never find her way back, her ex-best fr...
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Numb, I sat in the corner of Biddies Bar, staring at the untouched pint in front of me as the Halloween spirit raged on around me. Laughter, costumes, and music filled the air, but I was too wrapped up in my own storm to care.
The lights in the bar flickered in rhythm with the music, but the warmth and festivity felt distant, like I was watching it all from behind glass. My fingers drummed against the sticky wooden table as I tried to collect my thoughts, the sound of my pulse loud in my ears.
Running all the way into town hadn't been my finest idea, especially not in the cool October air, but I needed to get out. I needed to escape before I lost control, before words I couldn't take back exploded from my mouth. Home was out of the question. Hughie's house—the Biggs' house-was no better. If I went back now, she'd probably be there, and I wasn't in any shape to face her. Not after everything that happened earlier. My chest tightened just thinking about it.
Where was I supposed to go now? If I hadn't left my keys back at Hughie's, I could have crashed at the bakery, curled up on one of the sofas and let the quiet of the empty place calm me. But, of course, I had rushed out without thinking, without grabbing anything but my wallet and my phone. I always seemed to be running, always escaping something—The world , myself, or the creeping feeling of guilt that seemed to shadow me wherever I went.
The truth was, I was suffocating under the weight of secrets I'd kept locked up for years. Secrets about me, about her,and about my family.—things I never spoke aloud. The guilt and the shame that came with each day piled up, layer after layer, until I felt like I was drowning under the pressure. Sometimes I wished I could just unload it all onto someone, let it all spill out so I didn't have to carry it alone anymore. But how could I? Who would even understand? I thought, for a split second, of Aurora. Maybe she'd listen. Maybe she'd understand. But what would happen after I told her? Once things were said, they couldn't be unsaid. And I wasn't ready to deal with the fallout.
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to focus on the glass in front of me, condensation sliding down the sides. I hadn't even taken a sip yet, too caught up in my own thoughts to care about drinking. I didn't need alcohol to feel numb right now—the weight of everything was doing that well enough. But even in my haze, I could sense eyes on me, feel the occasional glance from across the bar.
People were out tonight to have fun, dressed up in ridiculous costumes, dancing and laughing like nothing in the world could touch them.
But I wasn't one of them.
The screech of a chair being pulled across the floor snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked up just as a woman, dressed in a skintight leather Catwoman costume, slid onto the stool next to me. Her long dark hair was tied back in a sleek ponytail, and her eyes, framed by the mask, gleamed with mischief. She leaned forward, her elbows resting on the table, her lips curving into a sultry smirk.
"Hey, buttercup," she purred, her voice low and teasing.
I blinked at her, my mind struggling to place her in my foggy state. She looked familiar, but I couldn't quite figure out from where. Her perfume was strong, sweet and heady, wrapping around me like a cloud I couldn't escape.
