Page 41 of Under Fyre

Something changed after I told her about Emily and Lizzy.

She watches me with dark curiosity in her eyes, like she wants to know more than I’ve told her.

I don’t think I can do that. Even telling her the little I did has brought back unpleasant things.

The shoemaker’s shoes are always broken.

I’ve never trusted another person enough to lay my trauma at their feet. However much I’ve moved on, whatever degree I’ve healed…I did everything myself.

I open up Milly’s account and check her chat history with Brent92.

HOW WILL THEY KNOW

He hasn’t been online once the last few times I’ve checked.

Either I scared him off, or he’s waiting for Milly to work up the courage to message him back.

I close the lid, take a deep breath of the frigid air.

The change in location has done Charlotte well. She keeps asking if we’ll be continuing our sessions together.

I no longer think that’s a good idea.

My plan had been to take things up a notch once we arrived, but my mind feels bruised after rehashing memories I’ve worked so fucking hard to keep hidden.

Ironic as fuck.

Now I’m trapped on a colorless plateau, nothing but infinite horizons to either side.

A step in any direction could lead somewhere, but it could lead away from something just as easily.

I wouldn’t know which was which until I’d gone the distance.

I abhor waste.

But I guess standing still isn’t doing me any favors either.

I pull my notebook out of my coat and flip through the pages until I reach the start of Peter’s notes.

I keep paging until my handwriting starts to change. Until the pen starts pressing harder and harder into the paper. When I reach an entry I’ve read several times, I stop and trace my finger over the words.

I FOUND GOD IN HER PRETTY EYES

An idea begins to form.

I’ve been preparing Charlotte for something immense…but she’s not ready yet. Not the final stages of my plan, anyway.

But perhaps she’s ready for something else. Something I wouldn’t even have considered, had DaddyNosBest not turned the tables on me.

I can’t let him get away.

This is the closest I’ve been, and it’s taken me years. My patience wore out months ago.

But I might have a way to lure him from the shadows.

And Charlotte will be my unknowing aide.

I glance back through the trees. The cabin is hidden from view, but I know which direction it is in. I need some supplies—things I hadn’t thought to bring with me. It’s risky, leaving Charlotte alone, but she has Arrow to protect her.

---