Page 93 of Sinful Palace

18

Logan

“I remember it.I remember what happened,” Willow said, eyes shining fervently as she sat up. “I hit Chloe, but it was an accident. There was something on the road. And I didn’t try to run away without calling for help first. I wanted to, but Chloe told me not to. She was scared of someone or something. Also, I think someone else was there in the alley, and I think they pushed her onto the road when they saw me coming. It was a set-up.”

I held up a hand to stop her. “I know,” I said. My voice sounded hollow to my own ears. “You were talking out loud the whole time. We heard everything.”

Her eyes turned wider, fearful. “Do you believe me?”

“Hold on.” I turned to Myla. “I really appreciate your help with this, and I don’t want to seem ungrateful, but I need to speak with Willow in private.”

“Of course.” She packed up her bag and stood. “Willow, sorry again about everything you’re going through. If you ever want to chat or hang out, you know how to get in touch.”

Willow gave her a faint smile. “Thanks. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Myla quietly slipped out of the room. I took a seat across from Willow, heart thumping loudly. “I believe you,” I said.

“Really?” she asked in a small voice.

“Yes.”

“But I don’t know if that night actually happened that way. You heard what Myla said about false memories. They’re really common, and we have no way of knowing if they’re actually true or not.”

“It wasn’t a false memory.”

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. “We can’t know that for sure. How do we know my imagination didn’t just invent all of that? It could be my mind’s way of protecting itself against the awful truth. The truth that I really did attack Chloe.”

I put my head in my hands and rubbed my temples. “No. It was real,” I said softly.

“How do you know?”

“Because of what you told us about all the things Chloe said to you that night,” I said. “She definitely said it. That means it’s a real memory.”

Willow’s forehead wrinkled. “How could you possibly know what Chloe said that night unless you were there?”

I drew in a deep breath. “She hasn’t really spoken since the accident, unless you count moaning and grunting occasionally. But there’s one exception.”

“Oh?”

“I went to visit her a few months ago. I wanted to tell her that I was bringing you here. When I mentioned your name, she suddenly started talking, as if hearing it activated something in her brain.”

“What did she say?”

I swallowed hard. “The exact same things you just said to Myla and me. Things like: You have to run… run before she gets you too… you can’t let her get you.”

Willow’s brows shot up. “Oh my god.”

“At the time I assumed she was terrified of you because you ran her over. I thought she was warning me to stay away from you. Get away before you hurt me too.”

“I probably would’ve thought the same thing,” Willow said, looking down at her lap.

I shook my head. “But that’s obviously not what she meant. When I said your name, it must’ve triggered something in her mind. It’s like she was reliving those moments with you. She probably thought I was you, just because I said your name, and she was warning you to get away from someone else. Not warning me to get away from you.”

“So her brain is basically stuck on that night and all of the things that happened before she went into a coma.”

“Yeah. Seems that way.”

Willow stared down at the table in front of her. “This is completely crazy,” she said in a low murmur.

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