FULL ECLIPSE (Book #2)

𝕿𝖜𝖔

As I'm stuffing all the essentials into a backpack, I can't help but think about where I left it off with Ella in the safe world. When I told her the truth, that there are two worlds, but in one of 'em she dies, the way she looked at me, it wasn't anything mildly as close to understanding me and my predicament. I spoke to her through memories, and she hated me, feared me for it...

And 'hate' is a big word. But let's be honest, I'm just a kid in love who asked her out back where she is, and that's just it. Period. I roughly zip up one section of the backpack and open up another one, getting more enraged at myself or at her. But then again, why am I so caught up on her? There's so much worse going on – I lost Mum, I lost myself, those are the things I should be worrying about.

"Dude," Bray pops into the same aisle as me, "still can't believe your dad's here with us."

"Me too," I sniffle, can't show him my weakness, "still tryna process it."

"Hey," he sorta says upbeat when he senses my energy and tries to distract me from my thoughts, "did you get those lamingtons I like, the ones with the jam in the middle? Or the double-coated TimTams?"

"Nah, I should though, they're over there. You can go ahead," and I turn away from him, stiff.

"Dean..." Bray comes up behind me and places his hand on my shoulder.

I can't turn around, I can't show him my weakness.

"We will always remember her," he says warmly, hitting the nail on the head.

That's the problem, I'll never forget, and I rather forget.

"She was one badass girlfriend to you and an awesome friend to us," his words kinda heal me.

"Brayson," I finally turn around to face him, "I loved her... I really did."

"Bro, I know you did," he brings me in for a much-needed hug, "I know you did."

I just can't keep my tears in any longer. They drip down from my sore eyes as I hug Bray tighter in return. I'm finally crying not in rage but in sorrow and I had been keeping it in for way too long.

"If only I had gone last or something, maybe then she would've still been alive," I confess to Bray.

"Hey, mate, you can't think like that. It happened because it happened. That's just the way life is. You can't blame yourself for it."

He's right. I sink my teeth into my bottom lip to the point where it hurts because I rather focus on the pain than fall apart even more. We've only got 4 hours, no time left to waste or think about feelings. I step back, feeling somewhat lighter.

"You know," Bray smiles sentimentally, "in another world, we'd be in the back of a jeep with the boys tryna find a place to dine and dash."

'In another world'... If only he knew.

"Or till one of ours breaks into a mad fist fight and the cops get called in," he adds. "Probably the most realistic outcome if you ask me."

"Did happen..." I break into a small chuckle, I know what he's doing and I'm grateful for it.

"Yeah, a couple dozen times! Remember the time that cop chased us? Your dad was sooo pissed at us."

I remember that day like it was yesterday – Dad told the cop he'd handle it. The entire way home, he was blowing the roof off the Escalade, yelling about how reckless could we be. Bray doesn't have a dad... so I guess he just enjoyed getting scolded like a normal kid would if their dad was mad. But as for me, I was on house arrest for a whole month and a half!

"Boys! C'mon!" my dad calls out from one end of the aisle. "Clock's ticking."

❖

We're in the furniture department, standing around a display table. There's a map laid flat in the middle of it.

"This is gonna be tricky," Dad warns us, "but you lot should be more than capable of being used to 'tricky' by now."

Jace has his arm around Amber's neck and he kisses her on the head. Amber smiles at him and hugs his arm tighter. My father kinda notices this and pauses for a sec. You think I'm protective of my sister? You should see my dad. He's the reason for it. And like always, because I'm the brother, I quickly divert his attention away from them.

"The checkpoint, Dad, where's that at again? Uncle Emmett said we had to get to the rendezvous in 4 hours."

"Right," he clears his throat and looks at the map, "the checkpoint's at Black Eden's Hill."

Oh- Oh no. They call the Black Eden's Hill a death trap.

"Of course it is," Bray turns away with his hands crossed at the nape of his neck. "Why am I not surprised?"

"That's on the other side of our school... where Eden went missing," Carmen mumbles.

The story is, a girl named Eden went missing in that forest, they named the Hill after her as like a commemoration or something. Tale has it that if go deep enough into the forest, you reach the most tranquillising lake. A shimmery-bluey-grey lake, one that sparkles even without the sun or moonlight. The only catch is: those who go in, never come out. Just like Eden. Anyway, there's a dead girl and a pretty cool lake and we don't know if either one is true.

"Yeah right," Jace chuckles, "you wish I'm headin' in there."

"All that Eden stuff is a myth," Dad pulls out this information from where? IDK. "It's just a forest with a few trees. Harmless, really. We just have to go in, meet at the checkpoint, and voilà."

"But it's packed with trees, Dad," Amber states. "How is the chopper gonna land?"

"There's an opening. Uncle Emmet will be there. He's given me the coordinates."

"Why meet there though?" I ask.

"It's just how it is," Dad gets a lil annoyed at all the questions. "Everywhere else is too compromised."

Whatever that means.

"Okay so lemme get this straight," Jace gestures with his hands. "We're literally walking ourselves into a maze, a maze no one gets out of alive?"

"Right on," Dad rolls up the map.

"Cool," Jace forces a grin.

"Not cool," I mumble.

"So not cool," Bray whispers next to me.

Definitely not cool.