Would you be here now?
Huddled on this bed with me
Safe from what’s below
I was scared
I am scared
Of the monsters without
and the monsters within
What if I can’t dare
I wishI could go back in time
And with you while the hours
But wishes are for other folk
Those who won’t be devoured
Why can’tI just lie here?
Await what’s on its way
Snapping its jaws
Ready to have its say.
I wasscared
No, terrified.
Of the monsters without
and the monsters within
But if you could be by my side…
I just want you by my side.
I can’t ask you to drown with me.
CHAPTER30
Nineteen Months Ago—Ellery
At least shehad gotten dressed.
Ellery crawled into a corner of the couch in the living room, her sweatshirt and yoga pants hanging from her gaunt frame.No matter how much Dante and her friends fed her, nothing tasted right.Everything was sand and ash.
Dante took his place beside her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.She wanted desperately to melt into his side, but she had overheard him on the phone to his family the previous day.His family.Brother, parents, support, love.Dante was going to leave.She knew it in her bones.It’s what she would do, if she had her family.
She needed to get herself together.The counselor kept telling her to focus on one thing, just one thing she had to do that day.One thing was easier than many.
Today’s thing was attending the band meeting.
