Page 25 of Possession

“Wake up, Grace.”

I shook my head.

“Wake up, Grace,” I shouted into the cave. The sound echoed and bounced around in the darkness.

I snapped into focus for a moment. I pushed up with my good foot. I had to get up just a little more. I had to reach.

Hadto.

The face of my phone lit up the cave, then it vibrated.

Was someone calling me?

“Keep calling,” I said to the empty cave.

My iPhone didn’t have a good enough vibrate feature to actually help me. Why, oh why couldn’t I have one of those older smart phones that flopped around like a damn Mexican jumping bean?

I collapsed against the rock I’d been stuck against forever. It didn’t matter how many times he called me. If it was even Blake. He had a houseful of people at the party.

Would he even notice I wasn’t there?

Would he care?

Would he look for me?

Maybe he’d go to my grandmother’s house. There was no way for him to actually know where I was.

No one would.

Secrets. Always secrets. My grandmother. My mother. Blake.

So many secrets.

I woke with a start. “No, Grace. Stay awake.” I didn’t even know what was a dream and what was reality. The dark was so complete.

The white flash of my screen made me blink. I slid lower on the rock, the surface scraping my back.

My back.

“Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.”

I wiggled down. I tried to grasp the hem of my hoodie, but my fingers just wouldn’t work. I pulled my arms through the sleeves. The clammy frozen skin started a chain reaction of shudders.

I had to get it off.

Had to do something to knock my phone down. It was my only shot.

I didn’t know if I had the dexterity to catch my stupid phone if I got it off the ledge, but I had to try. It had a Lifeproof case on it, but that was water resistant, not submersible.

My hoodie and the thermal shirt beneath it were soaked through. I couldn’t take one off without the other.

Just the thought of it made my teeth chatter. The water was up to my hip now. The lapping water splashed against the rocks and there was nothing but cold and salt.

“Off. Off.”

I laughed. Madness creeping in. I’d said the same thing to Blake last night. I couldn’t get his clothes off fast enough. I couldn’t get him out of the stupid sleep pants he continually wore.

Naked.

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