Page 31
“Run?” Eagerly, I lean close.
He lowers his voice. “Devil’s Bay has a way of sinking its fiendish claws once you’re here too long. See that you use this as your opportunity to learn as much as you can.”
“So your hypothesis is to tread through the unknown and everything will be alright?” It’s a ridiculous educated guess.
“Dissociative amnesia. Rare, but possible. A trauma so remarkable, the mind sealed the memory away.” He studies my face. “It’s likely what’s happening.”
“If I have amnesia, then how come I can remember random facts but nothing concrete about myself?” I turn away from him, and walk toward the mirror. I reach out and trace the outline of my face.
“Well…that’s the interesting thing. Dissociative amnesia leaves all the facts and procedures we already know unimpaired. But autobiographical? It will wipe every bit of information about yourself away. Like the sea…it is unforgiving. I hope it is brief. Which is why I want you to rest.”
I turn back to him and study his face carefully. He seems trustworthy enough.
We step into the hallway where Kieran is pacing, muttering under his breath. His hair is messier than a few moments ago.
“Arik,” he says, his blue eyes wide. Up close, I can notice faint twitching.
“Besides the obvious, she’s in excellent shape,” Arik replies. “Misty should stay with her. It’ll help.”
A smile threatens my face before I swallow it down. “It’s okay if she can’t stay. I know some people have rules about animals.”
“If you’re comfortable, she stays,” Kieran says, unreadable.
Arik pats Kieran’s shoulder. “Good. She needs company.”
“Breakfast?” Kieran asks, the pair having a silent conversation with their eyes.
“Another time,” Arik replies. He hesitates, eyes flicking to me. “Let’s keep things…calm for now.”
Kieran nods once.
“Misty!” Arik calls out down the long hallway. A second later, paws thunder against the floorboards. The dog barrels toward me, tongue lolling, and bright-eyed. I laugh, an honest, startled burst of warmth.
“Nice to see you too, Misty,” I say, crouching to greet her.
Arik smiles. “She’s already in love with you.”
FOURTEEN
“Every miracle is a maw, waiting to be fed, even if it is your soul.”
— UNKNOWN
It would have been nice to have known beforehand that Kieran was planning to disappear after escorting Dr. Marlowe out. I could have asked him to take me with him.
But where? Would other places be as kind as this? As freeing? Nothing bad has happened to me so far, and if it did, I would claw my way out of it. Trusting anyone new at this point wouldn’t help me.
I leave the confines of his room and retreat to my borrowed sanctuary, and the silence folds around me, thick and unrelenting. Misty’s nails tap across the floorboards like a metronome across the quiet space. It is a hush that bites the skin.
Daylight does nothing to soften the house. If it weren’t for the storm-addled scenery outside, I would have forced Kieran to take me to a hospital. But that is pointless, isn’t it? I am able-bodied, vigilant, and capable of defending myself. I should be grateful for the shelter. For safety.
The discomfort lying low in my belly says otherwise. Did he know the Sheriff lingered at the edge of the property? Had they spoken? Was the Sheriff here because of him? Or worse…me? Had I committed a crime?
A cold thought curls at the back of my mind. If anything happens to Kieran while he’s gone, what becomes of me? This house lacked phones; the terrain suggested it stood miles from town. I couldn’t traverse the snow and the biting chill by myself. What belonged to me were only fractured memories and the few people who know I exist. Who would help me then? I shake the ugly thoughts away. There is no use in mingling in misery.
I move to the windows. Dark and choppy, the waves churn below even under the hidden sun. The sight of them makes the room feel smaller. My breath fogs the view. The thread of that dark place inside my head pulls taut. It wants me to retreat into nothingness. To relinquish my life to death. To eternal shadow. The glass cools my forehead.
I blink.
