The realization hit me sideways. He’s said as much earlier, but I hadn’t quite registered what he meant.
This nest was the home I’d desperately craved. That was why it was so foreign.
I belonged.
I sat up so fast I fumbled to catch myself, before I fell back into the comfort of the nest. Panic slammed into me like a mac truck. The warmth still touched the parts of me that were in contact with the nest, and I jumped to my feet, stumbling in the process.
My breath came in short, ragged breaths that made me lightheaded.
I didn’t build this home. He did. He controlled everything here.
That meant he could rip it away from me.
He could use it against me.
He was in my head. He’d know exactly where to jab the knife.
No.
Was that my thought or his? Even my head was confused. Nothing was sacred anymore.
I had to get out of here.
I yanked on some of my spare clothes as fast as I could, not bothering to clean my wound. This place would kill me before an infection would.
Once I put some space between me and this place that wanted to hold me, I could think about that.
I’d been chasing a place like this. I’d travelled the world looking for it. But the cost of sinking into it was too high.
It was easy to dream when there was nothing to lose.
Now I had something concrete to take away.
It couldn’t be taken away if I rejected it.
Once my bag was secured on my back, I ran for the exit, climbing over the wall.
My pant leg snagged on the wall of bones, as if it were trying to drag me back in. I yanked my leg over, ignoring the way my wounds throbbed more. Once I was outside the nest, I ran.
I had to cut out the cancer before it could spread.
Chapter 22:
Withoutthinking,Iendedup back at the abandoned base. Trash and non-necessities still littered the area. Including my hammock.
The emptiness reminded me that I was alone, and things were better that way.
I flopped into the netted bed with a loud breath of relief that came from my toes. This felt right.
Here, I was an outsider, and that was what I needed. Life was safer when I knew that I didn’t belong.
A huge portion of me yearned to go back, but that was exactly why I couldn’t. My eyes fluttered closed as the exhaustion from everything hit me.
It was easier to rest now.
A rustle in the distance made my eyes pop open, and I was surprised to see the night sky and stars. The rustling to my right came again, this time closer.
Idiot, you don’t have a fire. It’s probably a predator.
