The Last Lost Girl by Casey L. Bond

Author:Casey L. Bond [Bond, Casey L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Published: 2024-05-02T18:30:00+00:00

twenty-four

Hudson’s Journal

Ava scribbled in the journal I gave her until ink stained her fingertips and those stains matched the bruises of exhaustion that settled beneath her eyes. Until I strode across the room – she didn’t even notice – crouched down, and dragged it from her fingers.

She watched me blow on the ink until it was dry and wouldn’t bleed onto the rest of her words, then watched as I snapped the book closed. She sat on my bed and stared into my eyes at first, then at my lips.

And when she leaned forward, I told her she needed to sleep.

She told me she needed to remember. That sleep could wait.

I wonder when she burrowed under my skin.

I itch to let her read what I wrote years ago. I want to admit that I’m not sure I can trust my own words. That I’m afraid the truth isn’t captured between the bound pages, but that all I’ve managed to scrawl is more of Peter’s lies.

Instead, I lean in closer. She doesn’t shrink away.

Her pulse pounds, her breathing shreds.

I close the distance between us and kiss her. It’s brief but feverish, and it ignites me when I had so hoped it might douse the feelings she somehow inspires. Her hands find my chest and her eyes ignite when her fingers find the metal piercing that encircles my nipples.

Basking in the glow of her surprise and want, I stand and stride toward the banquette and toss her journal onto it.

For a moment, I consider staying to finish what we just started. My body wholeheartedly agrees and doesn’t care that I don’t, and can’t, trust her. But my mind wants to know what she’s hiding and reminds me that she’s been in Tinkerbell’s care for years. That’s something I can’t ignore. I can barely stomach it.

I tell her to sleep and promise we won’t go ashore until she’s rested. When she finally gives in, I read every word she penned. The following words are Ava’s…

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