Page 117 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“Because I thought he was! How was I supposed to know something like this would happen?”

“You could have thought about it! But you don’t like doing that. You’d rather play the vapid party girl to piss off your daddy!”

Norma slapped Blake across the face.

“You’ll regret that!”

Liam stepped between them, trying to separate them. As a result, all three of them began to scuffle.

A blackness veiled Abigail’s eyes. Her body went rigid, and the sound that came from her echoed with a thousand voices:

“STOP!”

It rolled through the room like a storm, piercing them to the core and causing them to fall silent, scared and disoriented.

“Enough,” Abigail whispered, taking a deep breath to compose herself. “It’s been a long day. I want to go home.”

“Yeah. Let’s go, Abby,” Blake said, putting an arm around her shoulder and leading her out of the cabin.

“Sure, just leave it to us!” Norma called after them.

One thing was certain.

Ever since they discovered Will Morgan, everything had changed for the worse.

PART III

…where certain matters become clearer.

February 23 | Sunday

Will came to for a moment as they were pulling into the hospital. A flood of voices disoriented him at first, then terrified him, and an instant later, vanished beneath an all-consuming pain. Will felt as if something were tearing his chest apart. He thought he was dying.

After that, he drifted in and out of consciousness. Lights, tests, words… Everything blurred before he could fully surface and grasp what was happening to him. He had no spinal damage—that was the first good news he heard. He did, however, have swelling of the brain, which caused him to fall asleep uncontrollably for the first two days. The symptoms and the swelling itself later subsided—a recovery so unusual the doctors debated whether their tests had been flawed. His internal organs were fine, too—another fantastic piece of information. These great, wonderful, promising updates clashed sharply with the overwhelming pain, the limited movement, and the feeling that at the moment he needed help the most, he’d been left all alone.

He had cracked ribs, a broken leg, and a dislocated arm—most of the injuries were concentrated on the right side of his body, though Will couldn’t have said so. It felt like everything hurt.

Several days passed before he was moved from intensive care to a regular room. He was on strong painkillers. He slept a lot.

Today, sleep had claimed him right after his morning tests, and he didn’t wake until around two in the afternoon. He was surprised to spot a card lying on his nightstand. Wincing in pain, he reached for it. It looked like a standard get-well card. Will opened it.

Buying a card seemed like a great idea, but I have no clue what to write. I was here, but you were asleep. I’ll swing by later. —Liam.

Will smiled internally, though his mouth remained fixed in the same grimace. He felt hopeless and wanted to fall back asleep immediately, but then he heard the door to his room open. Glancing that way, he was sure it was Liam.

Unfortunately, he was mistaken.

“Hey, Will,” Oscar said shyly, entering the room.

Will shut his eyes for a moment. He really didn’t want to see him right now.

“I’m sorry,” Oscar whispered. He looked terrible. He was trembling and clearly holding back tears.

“I know,” Will replied wearily. “It doesn’t change anything.”

“Not for that… I’m so sorry,” Oscar choked out unexpectedly, and Will stared at him, completely stunned. “I don’t even know when it happened… I just wanted to stop you… I had no idea something like that would happen.”

“It’s not your fault.”