The Fractured Zodiac by Ellie Burnham

Author:Ellie Burnham [Burnham, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-08-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

A loud bang on the front door made us both crouch down instantly and look at each other in panic.

Cyrus crept toward the window and peeked around the corner.

‘Get down!’ I hissed.

He did as I said and dropped below the window. I was about to signal him to prepare to fight, when a voice rang out.

‘Just me, chicken! I know you’re in there because I can smell your cooking!’ Paula called.

I breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. Cyrus shot me a puzzled look and I ushered him into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

I opened the door to Paula, feigning a smile.

‘Hi, lovey. I know you're avoiding Zachary, but it's unlike you to miss so much work so I thought I’d pop by with some bits for you!’ she explained.

Before I could deter her, she pushed past me into the house and started faffing in the kitchen.

‘Thanks, Paula. You didn’t need to come by. Sorry I haven’t been over to update you, I’m just feeling pretty under the weather,’ I said pitifully.

‘Oh, darling, don’t worry,’ she fussed, putting away various tins of things and glancing around the place.

‘Oh dear, what happened here?’ she asked, pointing to the pile of ash.

I hurried over and swept what remained of Abigail into my hands and chucked it out the window, pain wracking through my chest with guilt.

‘As you said, cooking mishap,’ I said weakly.

She tutted and turned to head toward the bedroom door. I hurried ahead and blocked her entry, and she frowned.

‘Now then, what is going on with you?’ she cried. ‘I have blankets for you!’

She held up two knitted blankets and my heart warmed, touched by her thoughtfulness, as always.

‘I just…I don’t...’ I stuttered.

‘Ah. Say no more, duck. Zachary came in rambling about some lad that had stolen you from him, but I assumed it was his usual delusional drivel. Clearly not, though,’ she winked. ‘I’ll leave these out here then and leave you to it.’

‘Thanks, Paula,’ I said gratefully, feeling unable to muster up another smile.

‘Nonsense. I hope you feel better soon, my darling.’

I pulled her into a hug and let myself feel safe for a moment.

‘Oh, sweetheart. You must be feeling unwell! Go and rest now,’ she commanded, feeling my forehead.

She knew I wasn't a hugger, I wasn't even a toucher. Not with most people anyway.

I watched as she headed back into the water and my heart twanged as I wondered if this would be the last time I would see her for a long while. She was the mother I never had and my best friend in one, and I hated that I couldn't tell her what was going on. But I would rather feel the crippling isolation that I felt in that moment than do anything to risk incriminating her into the awful mess I had gotten myself into or put her in harm’s way.

I blew out a long breath and headed back to Cyrus.

I found him sitting on my bed, frantically flipping through the parchment with my scrawlings on and the intact half of the journal.

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.