1643164341 (F) by M Sawyer

Author:M Sawyer [Sawyer, M]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kindle Direct Publishing
Published: 2018-06-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

NOLIN BIT HER lip. She wanted to scream at Melissa to pick up the broken plate, to wipe up the food mess, but Melissa’s feet were bare and so pale. Stepping on even the tiniest bit of the broken ceramic would slice her skin like paper. She watched her mother march up the stairs. Biting words perched on the edge of Nolin’s lips like a person about to jump from a ledge.

Melissa’s words stung. Nolin longed to fire back, to march upstairs, kick open the door, and throw those words back at her. Unfortunately, she couldn’t deny her mother’s accusations. Not one word. Her guilt burned like a brand.

After she dumped the mess into the trash, Nolin picked at the rest of her dinner. She didn’t feel like eating anymore.

Her arms and legs felt heavy, weighed down by an exhaustion that seeped into her bones, into the deepest parts of her mind. Part of her wanted to collapse on the couch and sleep for days, and another part wanted to go outside in the cool evening air and run until her legs gave out.

The exhaustion won. Nolin collapsed on the couch with one arm hanging off the edge, knuckles scraping the scratchy carpet. Her hair spilled over her face, catching in her eyelashes. She opened and closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep.

Please, I just want to sleep. I’m so tired. Just let me sleep.

Floating between waking and sleep, she drifted in and out of strange dreams of climbing up an endless tree that reached into the sky. The bark and branches scratched. Her arms and legs screamed with exertion, pushing and pulling her heavy, tired body up the trunk.

But she kept climbing because of what was below her. She wasn’t sure what it was, just that it was dangerous. She had to get away from it. No matter how her body ached, how exhausted she was, she couldn’t stop or slow down. The thing below could not get her.

She never found out what, exactly, it was.

***

Nolin sat up and craned her neck to peek out the window. Moisture gathered at the corners of the glass. Brisk spring air nipped at her nose and the tips of her ears, even inside the house.

How could she be so exhausted and restless at once? If anything, a night of fitful sleep had only worsened both.

Finally, she stood, slipped off the jeans and tee shirt she’d fallen asleep in, unhooked her bra and let it drop over her shoulders. Goose bumps erupted over her arms and legs, up and down her stomach. She quickly fished a sports bra, tee shirt, and running shorts from her backpack and wriggled into them before stuffing her hair into an elastic. The little loft in the mortuary was usually much colder in the mornings than this, but something about this heavy chill sank into her skin. She stepped into her sneakers and tiptoed softly to the front door to let herself out.

Biting morning air ran its

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