AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Why the fuck did he tell me? I had a plan! I had this worked out.
“All right, Lake.” Dr. Francis enters the room with a sheet of paper in his hands. “Here’s the list of places you can go in case there’s an emergency or…”
His eyes lock on my stomach, horror written on his face—wide eyes, gaping mouth.
I look down. It’s flat. My arms are skinny, not plump. My feet are normal.
She’s gone! She’s gone. My heart feels like it’s cracking. I instantly regret everything I just thought about being disappointed.
“Oh no.” Something’s changed. Something happened. I have to get to the wall and see Alwar. I need to get her back.
I shove past Dr. Francis and leave the exam room. I don’t stop running until I get to my truck. I drive the entire way home, white-knuckling the steering wheel.
Meanwhile, I can’t look down. I can’t stand the thought of my baby being gone. I turn right at the mailbox and drive down our long bumpy dirt road. My heart’s racing.
I hit the clearing where my family’s mansion has stood for over two hundred years, and now it’s gone. In its place is a small one-story house, white with a wraparound porch and green shutters. A cord of wood is neatly stack beside the front door.
What the fuck?
In the gravel driveway, a dark blue truck. My snowmobiles are gone.
What the hell is happening?
I park behind the truck and turn off the engine. I’ve lost my fucking mind. I’m sure I have.
I step from my truck and press my hand over my flat stomach. My eyes scan the forest and land. It’s all the same, but the mansion is gone.
The front door opens, and my ex, Dave, rushes out. “Lake, are you all right?” He bolts toward me, catching me just in time before I stumble.
“You-you’re alive? How’s that possible?” And he looks different. No stark-white veneers or gelled-back hair. He’s wearing Levi’s instead of those five-hundred-bucks-a-pop designer things he always bragged about owning.
He scoops me into his arms. “Lake, you’re scaring me.” He takes me inside and sets me on a blue couch I’ve never seen before. His phone rings, and he pulls it from his pocket. “Yes, she’s here. Uh-huh. Oh. I’ll let her know, Dr. Francis. Thank you.” He ends the call.
“Lake, that was your doctor.”
I think he’s going to ask why I’m not pregnant anymore or why I ran out of there like a bat out of hell.
“He says you forgot your prenatal vitamins. I’ll swing by tomorrow and get them.”
I don’t understand. I’m apparently still pregnant, but not very far along. I grab a pillow and hug it to my chest. Where did Gabrio’s baby go?
My eyes whip to Dave’s face in horror.Oh God. This baby’s his.
“Lake? What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“This is all wrong.” I stand. “Where’s the window?” There used to be one upstairs in my grandma’s bedroom, right on the wall. She framed it to make it look like a painting. But I could see directly into a room inside the wall at Monsterland, and the Wall Men could see into the bedroom. One touch, though, and you’d get sucked in and spit out on the other side.
“Window?” Dave’s eyes toggle to the living room window overlooking the front porch. “The window’s right there. What happened to you?”
Wrong window. “Something’s not right, Dave.” I have to find that window. That or I need to figure out where one of the many doorways back to Monsterland is. But then I’d still need a key to unlock it. In the mansion, Grandma Rain used to keep her set of keys in the freezer. But there’s no more mansion.
There has to be a way to get in contact with Alwar or get back to the wall.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I spend all day searching in the house, under the house, and around the property. I can’t find a window, set of keys, or any indication of a doorway, but there has to be one, right?
On the other hand, Dave is alive. That means he was not eaten by Bard. I’ve also learned that he and I married right after college.
