Clear Water

Chapter 3

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

!!Authors Note!!

Hey guys! Im sorry this book has been coming along so slowly! Please comment and tell me what you think! Sorry!!!!!!!!!!! Also this has been fun writing as you guys have been reading it and I'm so happy for that! Luv y'all! ~ErmHelloIThink

________________________________________________________________________________

When Hazel opened her eyes, the world felt the same—gray, wet, empty.

Her clothes were stiff with dried mud, and her skin was cold and clammy. She sat slumped against the trunk of a tree, its bark biting into her back. Somewhere in the night, she had stumbled here and collapsed, too exhausted to keep walking, too furious to think.

Her head hurt, like someone had pressed their hands against her temples and refused to let go. Everything felt heavy—her limbs, her thoughts, her heart.

Her gaze swept the ground around her. Just mud and dead leaves. No signs of life, no signs of anyone looking for her. Not that she expected them to.

They don't care, her thoughts hissed again, mocking her.

Hazel pulled her knees to her chest, resting her forehead on them. For the thousandth time, her mind circled back to leaving. Was it the right thing to do? Did it even matter? She knew going back wasn't an option, but what now?

"You're pathetic," she muttered bitterly, her voice cracking. "You left with no plan, no idea where to go... What were you even thinking?"

She wanted to feel angry. Anger was better than this dull emptiness gnawing at her insides. Anger made her feel alive, even if it burned. But now there was just silence, stretching on forever.

The thought of getting up and walking made her feel sick. Walk where? There was nowhere to go, no one waiting for her.

But then, like a whisper in the back of her mind, it came to her. Sable.

The name of the state was all she had—a name, a place, a destination. Sable was what they called the land that used to be North Carolina, a place broken apart by wars, reshaped by greed, and rebuilt on empty promises. It wasn't much of a home for anyone, but people still talked about it. A place where you could disappear. Start over.

Hazel didn't know if she believed the stories, but what choice did she have? Staying here, starving in the dirt, wasn't an option. Going back wasn't an option either.

"You'll figure it out. You always do." That's what they used to tell her—those lies that sounded like comfort but were really just ways to shut her up.

Her jaw tightened. She didn't believe it. She didn't believe in herself, or hope, or anything really. But if she was going to fall apart, she wasn't going to do it here. Not where she could still feel their shadows watching her.

Hazel forced herself to stand, using the tree for balance. Her legs shook under her weight, and her vision swam for a moment. Weak. You're weak. The voice in her head sneered, but she ignored it this time.

She pressed a hand to her ribs, her stomach growling so loudly it startled her. Hunger was clawing at her insides, and the realization sent a fresh wave of panic through her. How far could she even walk like this? How long could she keep going?

Sable. That was the answer. A single word—one direction—that she could cling to.

"They won't come looking for me," Hazel muttered aloud, as if hearing her voice would make it more real. "No one's coming."

The truth of it hit her hard, like a fist to the gut. She didn't know what stung more—the betrayal of their lies or the fact that even now, they wouldn't care. No one was going to search the roads or forests. No one would call her name.

That thought gave her a strange sort of comfort. If they weren't looking, it meant she really was free.

She tilted her head up to the sky, watching as a thick curtain of clouds moved sluggishly overhead. Rain threatened to fall again, and Hazel could already feel it in the air, sharp and bitter.

"I'll go to Sable," she whispered. Her voice cracked, and she hated how small it sounded. But she said it again, louder this time. "I'll go to Sable."

Maybe it was reckless. Maybe it was stupid. Maybe she wouldn't make it.

But she'd rather die walking forward than go back to the people who'd fed her nothing but lies.

The wind picked up, whipping through the trees and carrying with it the smell of rain and wet earth. It stung her face, but she let it. It felt real, sharper than anything she'd felt in weeks—months, even.

With one last glance over her shoulder, Hazel turned and started walking. Her feet sank into the mud, but she didn't stop. The forest loomed around her like a dark maze, but she kept going. She didn't have a map or a plan or food to keep her alive.

But she had a word. Sable.

And she had the hatred and anger to fuel her.

Keep walking, she told herself. If you stop, you'll disappear.

It wasn't hope. It wasn't strength. It was just survival.

Hazel stumbled, nearly falling, but she caught herself. The world spun, and for a moment, she thought her knees would give out. She gritted her teeth, steadying her breathing.

"They'll never see me again," she said aloud, forcing the words between gasps of air. "They'll never get to lie to me again."

And for the first time in days, Hazel let herself cry. Not because she was weak, but because everything inside her hurt—her head, her body, her heart.

But she didn't stop walking.