AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lenna looks over. Rhiannon had put the pieces together, then. Or had she always known? She wasactingsurprised, but were she and Coral in on this together?
But in a snap, she sees how terrified Rhiannon looks. And confused. She looks at Coral again. “Did youknowGillian?”
Coral crosses her arms. “Yes and no.”
Lenna blinks hard. Then, suddenly, something comes to her.She told you about me.Gillian didn’t, in so many words…but maybe she did.
“Oh my God,” she whispers.
“What?” Rhiannon whispers. “What is it?”
Lenna’s voice is shaky. “Gillian…she was dancing around this secret the night before she fell. About Sarah’s baby, about how it was triggering…but she didn’t tell me the whole story.”
Coral tips her head up, staring at the cave’s ceiling. “Like you would have believed her even if she did?”
“I…I don’t know,” Lenna says.
“Please. You thought she made shit up. You thought she just wanted attention. You’d written her off.”
“Wait a minute, Lenna,” Sarah gasps. “On Gillian’s Instagram, she talked about telling you this huge secret.”
“She didn’t actually tell me, though. She was drunk, and rambling, and not really making any sense, and then she just left.”
“You should have asked her about it.” Coral rolls her eyes. “You should have run after her and actually cared. But you just thought she was weird. And awkward. Anddramatic.Isn’t that right,Rhiannon?”
“I don’t get it,” Rhiannon cries, looking back and forth between all of them. “Who are you toher?”
Coral glances at Sarah, maybe waiting for her to guess. Sarah looks like she’s figuring it out, too, but she shakes her head. Coral then looks at Lenna, who breathes in cautiously and turns to the others in the dim, gauzy light.
“I think…I think Coral is Gillian’s daughter.”
DM Message Board for @GillianAnxietyBabe
July 23
@lonely_girlRZ4540:Hi. My name is Coral. I’m not supposed to have your name until I turn eighteen, but I think I know who you are. Sorry, I’m super nervous, I don’t know how to go about this.
July 24
@lonely_girlRZ4540:Hi again. Did I come on too strong? Like, I’ve read all of your posts, I struggle with the same things you do. I really would love to connect with you. I feel like I’ve known you all my life. In a way, I sort of have. I’d love to know your story. I’m here, patiently waiting.
July 24
@lonely_girlRZ4540:Just in case you’re confused: Jefferson Memorial Hospital, August 18, 2005. I was there, too.
37
Lenna
October
Present day
Lenna stares at the woman looming over her. She takes in Coral, realizing that without her bandanna, she has Gillian’s wavy hair. Her same square shoulders and petite, slender build.
But she can’t fully process this—not yet. “Where’s Jacob?” she asks Coral. When Lenna tries to stand, Coral lunges toward her, gun raised.
“Sitdown,” Coral growls.
