Like I said, it doesn’t make any sense. I have no idea what happened. Nor can I give you any further insight. This is my full, complete account. Please don’t contact me again.
From,
Megan
12
LEAVING AGAIN
Jude sits at the piano, framed inside the large, recessed window of the music room. His fingers move effortlessly across the keys, creating music so beautiful it makes my chest ache. I don’t think I take a proper breath until the song ends.
The room goes quiet except for the fire crackling in the grate.
“She didn’t disintegrate,” I say.
He turns and spots me in the doorway, wearing a puffer vest and a beanie, holding Simon’s journal.
Last night, I reread every entry.
Twice.
I glance over my shoulder to make sure neither Tulane nor Jude’s stepmother, Isabel, are nearby. “Ifinally got a reply from Megan Carlisle, and she didn’t say anything about blowing up or combusting into flame. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure she’d remember something like that, which means our theory can’t be right. Assuming she’s a regular human, which I think is a pretty safe assumption to make, humanscansurvive inside the Overlay.”
I sit down on the settee and place the journal on the coffee table.
Jude joins me, his gaze shadowed like he didn’t sleep any better than I did.
“They were in the hedge maze when they passed into the Overlay, just like my mom and Simon their first time. That can’t be a coincidence, can it?”
Jude rubs his jaw. “Doesn’t seem like it.”
“She said they heard howling. When I had that vision of my mom? I heard howling, too.”
He sets his phone beside the journal.
Last night’s story is still fresh in our memory.
“I think I remember seeing hounds, but I’m not sure.” I let out a frustrated growl. “I should have written it down. Recorded it in my own journal.”
Our memories are too easily altered.
Our minds love to edit the past.
Which means now, there’s no way of knowing.
For the life of me, I can’t remember if the hounds were there in the original vision, or if my subconscious simply added them to the dream that has been plaguing my sleep.
I slide my hands into the pockets of my vest and hunch over my knees. “I saw Rafe again.”
Jude snaps to attention beside me.
“I was going to tell you last night, but then…” Ivy Winslow’s body was found. The thought makes me shudder. “It happened on Friday, when I was working at Evermore. The lamp in the reading nook turned on. I went back there to check it out. Lightning struck. And there he was, a reflection in the window.”
“You’re sure it was Rafe?”
“He didn’t look very good, but yeah, it was definitely Rafe. And he saidLainey isn’t Lainey.”
“What does that mean?”
