Stranger in the Woods by Anni Taylor

Author:Anni Taylor [Taylor, Anni]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-15T22:00:00+00:00

26

ISLA

The air was chillier than usual when I woke and climbed out of bed, as if the weather had suddenly dropped ten degrees.

I’d called Mum back last night, but she didn’t have any more information for me. She didn’t know anything about who Trent was or what he’d done. All she knew was that I’d called her one day and she’d come to get me from my apartment, and she’d been shocked by the condition she’d found me in. Next, I’d tried the two friends who I used to see the most two years ago. Only one of them remembered me mentioning a guy named Trent and only vaguely.

I opened the bedroom shutters.

A gasp flew from my throat.

The world had turned white while I slept. The trees looked as if icing sugar had been sifted over them.

I noticed then that it was still snowing. Just barely. Individual snowflakes spiralled past my window.

Distracted and entranced, I stood there watching for minutes.

Photos. I should grab photos. What if the sun came out and the snow melted, and it didn’t snow again for weeks?

Dressing in a thick layer of clothing, I headed out.

My boots crunched the icy ground. I caught a snow flake in my hand. Then, crouching, I trailed my gloved fingers through the snow and packed some snow into a tight ball. I pelted the snowball at a tree, hoping I wouldn’t lose my footing and send my butt skidding across the ground. I’d been waiting a lifetime to throw a snowball.

Only, now that I’d seen snow for the first time, I had no one to throw snowballs with.

A curtain moved aside upstairs in the McGregors’ house. It had to be Jessica. Alban’s car was gone and the figure at the window was an adult. Well, I didn’t care if she was watching.

Maybe Jessica would decide to go out and leave Rhiannon with Greer again. If Stella was still in town, the four of us could build a group of snow people in the front yard.

I guessed I should start taking photos.

The figure at the window vanished as I took out my camera and aimed it at the house. The snow-encrusted roof line and whiter-than-white surrounds gave the house an entirely different look. There were no puffy mounds of heather to soften and make the architectural lines prettier. But somehow, the starkness made the house design come into its own. Again, I could see why Alban had won awards.

Stomping about in the soft snow, I climbed the hills and captured pictures of the snow-covered mountains and ghostly trees. Then I trekked back down along the tree-line, snapping small details. A bird alone on a bare, snowy branch. A snow-jewelled larch cone.

I was spellbound by the wintry-white world, but a continual stream of thoughts ran rampant in my mind. Who was Trent? What had he done to me? What was he trying to do to me now?

My phone’s ringtone jingled in the crisp air.

Taking out my phone, I glanced at my screen. It was Rory.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.