Lullaby (The Fable Series, Book 2)

Chapter Thirty Five

A hush falls over the group as I step out of the darkness into the ring of light cast by the bonfire.

I might have been walking up and down the beach for a few minutes. Or maybe a few hours. I don't know, and it doesn't matter.

I lost track of the time, as the thoughts tumbled around in my head like the raging ocean just a few feet away.

I thought about everything – the dreams, the silver ring I found in mom's jewelry box, Mia's grave, the accident, Evan, the worried looks my friends have been trying to hide from me all day – and I know what has to be done.

I sit down between Zee and Elliot in front of the fire, crossing my legs beneath me.

"Is everything alright Ash?" Elliot asks, his face glowing in the flamelight as he pokes the fire with a gnarled, blackened stick. "You were gone a long time."

All conversation around the fire has gone silent; everyone waits for my response.

"No, I'm not alright," I say finally.

No one speaks; perhaps they know what is coming next.

The silence is heavy, waiting to be filled.

"Zee and Kitty are the only ones who know my story," I say. "My whole story."

Alix sits up straighter, leaning closer. He's probably known all along, since the first day we met, that there was something dark and terrible in my past. Something I haven't been ready to share, until now.

Elliot nods, his face a mask of solemnity; Ben looks slightly confused.

Lyall looks like he wants to say something, but thinks better of it. Alastaire's brow is creased with worry.

And Felix is watching me with narrowed, wary eyes.

Don't, he seems to be saying.

But it's too late. There's no turning back.

"I'm sorry I kept you all in the dark for so long," I say.

And with that, I begin telling the sad, secret story of the bus at the bottom of the ocean.

*****

By the time I'm finished, the bonfire has burned down to ash and dying embers.

The dying light illuminates the grave faces gathered round; bound by my tale, hooked to the last word.

Zee and Kitty are both crying, the tears streaming down their faces in silence, even though they've both heard the story before.

The others wear a mix of expressions – shock, sadness, bewilderment.

I feel a light touch on my shoulder. I look up, and I realize Felix is behind me, pulling me to my feet.

His face is etched with pain, and there's a sadness in his eyes, and also a softness I never new he possessed.

"You should go there," he says. "Now. To the place it happened. Things like this... they don't go away unless you let them go. You need to say goodbye."

I'm quiet for a moment, and as I look into his eyes, I see not only my own pain reflected back at me, but the private torment he's kept hidden until this point.

He understands. I see that now. Like me, Felix has walked through Hell and back. There's something dark in his past he can't let go of, or perhaps it won't let go of him. Something like the bus, or maybe worse. A trauma. He's been fighting it all this time, just as I've been fighting.