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Wind and clunky cracking sounds besiege me in my place. I’m trapped by my own stupidity.

“Marisa!” Hearing Kieran’s voice is welcoming but looking down gives me the very thing I don’t want to face. There’s a creature perched on a swaying branch, head tilted, watching me. Its eyes are as clear as glass, reflecting my image clearly.

“What…”

Slowly, it stands up.

Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa. Marisa.

The voice is a sibilant chant, speaking from a mouth that only cracks with each attempt.

“I need you to duck!” Christian’s voice then travels up to me. Furtively, I glance below. Both men are standing at the rupture, toes right at the edge, uncaring for their safety.

Swish. I have no time to register the whistling sound that travels up the mountain. A metal dagger flies straight into the rock face beside me.

A string of expletives emits from one of the men below. I have no time to discern who it is, because the creature begins to mimic my movements, and lands right in front of me.

The outcropping is only big enough for two people to stand, if they’re face to face. And that is what the creature does.

My mind empties of any thoughts. Breath stuttering as it brings its face in view of mine.

Open your eyes.

It opens its eyes and there’s a someone inside, suspended in water.

Open your eyes and you shall receive.

The corners of my vision blurs then hones in on the gossamer veil that shrouds the creature’s eyes. Its cold fingers travel up to my face, cupping my cheeks and leaning its head against mine. An electric sensation travels through me as my body begins to shake, then it feels like it’s flying.

Come with us.

All I can think of at this moment is Misty sitting at the window waiting for me and then cold enveloping us as we careen into the water.

You don’t belong here.

TWENTY-FIVE

“Stay with me, for I will love you for an eternity.”

— UNKNOWN

They say when you’re about to die, images of your life flood your mind.

I think I’m dead. But there’s nothing waiting for me. There’s only a glass wall, illuminated by a refraction of red light. Beyond, is all darkness.

I attempt to move, but I’m tethered.

Glancing down shows my ankles and torso wrapped in vines. My hands are free floating, numb.

Where am I?

“Marisa.” A soft voice surrounds me.

I close my eyes, thinking of a way out, but my body floats upward then like a vacuum, the sensation of being pulled from behind slams against my chest. Heaving in a guttural breath, my eyes flutter open, revealing the same room I’d awakened in a few weeks ago.

Fuck. I’m still here.

“My escape plan didn’t work, huh?” Swallowing feels like needles in my throat. I slowly sit up in bed to see there’s no one in here with me. My head pounds and my breathing is belabored.