Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
She scoffs. Like she wants to point out that she wasn’t offering herself up. But she knows better and leaves it at that.
We walk towards the back of my cavern together. She’s still fairly amicable, but when we arrive at the entrance to a tunnel that glows with a lavender mist, she hesitates. “Now where are we going?”
“Into the earth, little baby. I’ve explained this.” I grab a hold of her arm—just in case—and tug her into a passageway where, at the end, there is a large tapestry covering the wall of rock.
When we get there, I keep a hold of her with one hand and use the other to pull the tapestry away, revealing a dark hole in the side of the earth.
“What’s in there?” She’s facing the hole, nearly under the threshold, when she says this. So her question bounces off the ceiling of the new cavern.
“Our destination, love.”
I push her forward and she stumbles, then turns, trying to get past me. I grab her, hard, and push her up against the wall. “I just explained to you that you’re coming with me. There is no way out, little baby. None at all. So stop. Because if you resist, you will piss me off.” This last part comes out mean, almost a growl. “You’re not going to die. You’re already dead. And I will be with you every step of the way.” I reach down, making her flinch, and swipe a strand of hair away from her sweaty face. “Do you understand?”
Echo forces herself to take a deep breath, then nods her head as she presses her lips together. She’s terrified. And she should be.
Because while I will be with her every step of the way, we will certainly be parting ways once we arrive at our destination.
She must read my mind because she makes one last attempt to get around me. But this time I am forceful and committed. I grab her wrists, spin her around, and then shove her forward.
She screams when she realizes there’s no earth under her feet. And I have just enough time to grab her tight around the middle, and unfurl my wings, before we start falling.
With the wings comes the transformation. It creeps across my skin like a spider weaving a web of death. Turning it blue-black. Making my teeth grow into long, sharp fangs, and claws appear at the end of my hands and feet.
This is why I didn’t bother putting on clothes.
When one goes into the dirt, one must become one’s self.
12 - Ryet
We’ll meet again one day.
Syrsee’s fever has not yet broken and it’s been nearly a week. I did have to leave her alone for about an hour several days back because I ran out of bacon. But other than that, I’ve been by her side this whole time, giving her small amounts of my blood to bring her fever down.
Meanwhile, as I’ve been doing this, I’ve also been eating real food non-stop and taking regular trips down to the basement tunnel to cover myself in dirt.
What the actual fuck is happening to us?
If I could leave Syrsee alone I’d be in town right now trying to find that fucking Guild Lounge. I’d turn myself in to them just to get answers.
I’m almost to the point of putting her in the truck and carrying her into that general store with me because I don’t know how long I can go on like this. When will she wake up? What is happening to her? What’s happening to me?
Paul, where the fuck are you when I need you?
Oh, I’ve been having regular conversations with him too. Not real him, of course. Some kind of hallucination, I think. There’s no purple to indicate I’m in a dreamwalk, but I know it’s not real because he looks blurry and smudgy. Like he’s been in the dirt too.
He’s also annoying in that smarmy way I hate. The ultimate smooth talker, always demanding that I come find him so he can illuminate me with the answers to all my questions.
And, actually, I probably would. More than likely, if Syrsee wasn’t so sick and I wasn’t afraid to leave her alone, I’d be back in the truck driving to Montana to go look for him. Because I don’t understand what is happening and it’s entirely possible that I’m fucking up really critical things that will affect our futures.
Also, I feel guilty about Syrsee. Because the last conversation we had was a fight over me having to feed her. And I just can’t take the irony of it. She was just pissed at me because she was my food and less than a day later, our roles were reversed. And we were having the same fight, but in reverse.
What the fuck is happening?
And, oh, yeah, the wings? Leaving again to go shopping in town for more bacon is a fantasy because the fucking wings are growing like… well, like nothing I’ve ever seen in nature. A weed, I guess. My wings are like weeds. Getting bigger, and thicker, and heavier by the hour. There aren’t any feathers yet—and it’s not a good look. It’s like wearing a skeleton on my back. At least fucking Paul had bat wings. My wings make me feel like I’m carrying around something that has died and rotted away.