Page 20 of Little Buried Secrets

Saying them out loud made them seem true.

“Because I want you to be alive,” I said. “For Rae. For Bronte. For you.”

“What’s happened has happened. There’s no turning back now. You can’t change the past. All you can do is seek the truth.”

“You’re dead, aren’t you?” I asked.

“Are you sure about that?”

“I am.”

And I was.

“How are you sure?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I feel it. I felt it since the moment I laid eyes on your bike.”

“Allow your feeling to be your guide.”

“You had plans to see Sebastian the night you disappeared,” I said.

“There were things I needed to say that he needed to hear.”

“What things?”

“The truth. I wanted him to know he could trust me.”

“Sebastian was the one who broke the trust with you,” I said. “Wasn’t he?”

“Trust goes both ways, doesn’t it? There are those in your own life you don’t trust. Wouldn’t you agree?”

I wanted to lie, but I didn’t.

“I suppose I don’t trust anyone,” I said. “Not all the way.”

“Why not?”

“I believe there are sides to all of us, sides we don’t show to anyone else.”

“Have you ever shown anyone all of your sides?”

“I try,” I said.

“Don’t you think it’s time you tried harder?”

“I do, and I will. Tell me how to find you.”

“You should know by now it doesn’t work that way.”

“Point me in a direction. Any direction.”

Silence.

“Are you still there?” I asked.

Silence.

“Hello? Margot?”

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