Billy’s here. He’s here. And he’s come back to finish the job.
That’s when my chest splits open from the terror that’s been lodged there, and I finally scream.
I scramble to my knees, frantically clawing at the moss and ground as I climb up and out onto my hands and knees. Desperately gasping for air, sucking in the haze surrounding me before pushing to my feet to run.
Because that’s the only thought in my mind.
Run.
My pulse in a full panic as my feet pound against the grass. I’m searching the distance in front of me, my vision blurred by watery eyes and speckled black dots as the scene before me ebbs and flows between present confused faces and a distortion by the past.
Because I’m back at Camp Weonoke. Back to that moment when I thought I would die.
I want to scream,He’s here. He’s back.But even as I open my mouth, nothing comes out. Or maybe it can’t because I think I’m hyperventilating.
Oh my god.
My chest tightens, making me grip it as I stumble, feeling like I may pass out. I don’t know what to do ... or what’s real ... until my eyes land on his.
Chase.
He’s here. Pushing past people, his steps picking up the pace as he rushes toward me, catching me as I all but jump into his arms.
My arms wrap around his neck as he grips the back of mine, holding me flush to him.
“Shh. Shh. Shh. Shh,” Chase soothes. “What happened? What’s wrong?” He pulls his head back to try and look at my face, but I’m too panicked to speak. “Evie ... look at me. Everything’s okay.”
I can’t. The fear is too much. My entire body’s shaking and it feels violent. He tries to pull me back to see my face but I keep it buried because my mind is splintered.
The fear follows me, so solidly rooted within me that I can’t hear the rational part of me say I’m safe. But somehow I instinctually know it because I’m with him.
So I won’t let go.
Chase is my lifeline.
I grip him tighter and he doesn’t move. He just lets me hold him, returning that fierceness back to me. His hands stay on me through the rough inhales and exhales that turn into cries and through the trembling I can’t get a handle on.
He anchors me, keeping the world at bay as I focus on the steady thrumming of his pulse against my lips. I count to it in my mind, feeling my tears stain my cheeks and melt onto his skin.
I don’t know how long we stand there, or how many people watch, but I just keep counting. Until my eyes flutter open as my heart begins to beat in rhythm with his and I swallow the tightness in my throat.
“Evie, baby. What happened?” he whispers to me so gently that I can feel how fragile I am in his arms.
“He ... I ... I was pulled under ...” I stutter, unable to make out my words, my face still buried into his neck.
So I pull back slowly, our eyes connecting, as I try to tell him someone pulled me into one of the empty graves, but laughter comes from behind me.
Chase immediately looks over my shoulder, his brows pulling into a V. And I’m placed on my feet before I follow his gaze, turning around but keeping my back against him. No part of me can’t touch him right now.
Joe, my colleague, is with a couple of the other guys from my team, and they’re all laughing apologetically.
“Gotcha,” one of them says as the other pretends to get pulled under. But it’s as if they’re trying to lighten the mood.
I shake my head, my dirty palms curling into fists as I try to process what’s happening. And my ragged breath slows as reality takes a firmer grip.
It’s a joke ...Are they fucking kidding?
I drag my fingertips over the butt of my hands before wiping them on my pants, trying to get rid of the memories still gnawing at me from the back of my mind.
