Page 69 of Hidden Echoes

"I hadn’t thought of that," I murmur, the uncomfortable lump in my throat growing as I try to swallow it down.

Audrey watches me for a moment, her expression shifting into something unreadable, before she lets out a heavy sigh. "You remind me of someone," she says, her voice soft, almost wistful. "He used to be just like you… acting like he had no idea what the world had in store for him. You made me miss that boy."

"Maybe he’s still there," I reply quietly, my gaze holding hers, sensing the depth in her words. The way she looks at me, it’s like she’s remembering something—someone—and for a moment, I see a flicker of vulnerability in her eyes that I didn’t expect.

“Maybe,” she murmurs, but there’s something final in her tone, like the door on that chapter has already closed. Her eyes glow in the firelight, a subtle sadness behind them, and it makes me wonder who this boy was, and why it matters so much. “But I’m not going to wait to find out any longer.”

The weight of her words hangs in the air like a cloud, and for a moment, the room feels quieter, as if everything around us is holding its breath. But then, Audrey shakes her head, forcing a smile back onto her lips, changing the subject with practiced ease. “Does anyone want to dance?”

“Me,” I say immediately, eager to escape the heavy silence and the storm of thoughts swirling in my mind. I need to move, to feel the rhythm of the music, anything to shake off the uncomfortable feeling that’s settled in my chest.

Audrey is the first to stand, and Liv pulls me along. We move closer to the fire, where the music swells louder and the heat from the flames seems to push away the chill creeping up my spine. We let ourselves drift into the beat, laughing and twirling, the weight of our conversations momentarily forgotten. For a moment, we exist only in the electricity of the moment—of now.

Then, Audrey’s phone buzzes with a notification. She pauses mid-dance, pulling her phone from her pocket, her eyes scanning the screen. I watch as her expression softens.

I catch a glimpse of the photo, the image flickering across the screen, and freeze, staring at it longer than I should.

No.

I blink, my heart skipping a beat, and I find myself staring at the woman in the picture. She’s beautiful, her smile soft and genuine, and the way she holds herself—it’s like she radiates this calm, peaceful energy. But what truly makes my blood run cold is the fact that I’ve seen her before.

I know her.

My cricket.

Audrey notices my frozen stare and turns toward me, her voice light, almost teasing. “Oh, this is my best friend, Laura. I know, she’s totally gorgeous, isn’t she? We’re like sisters from another mother. But she’s totally married and living the best life…” She continues talking, but her words start to drown out, muffled under the weight of what I’m seeing.

Laura.

The name lingers in my mind, like a shadow, a whisper from the past I never thought I’d hear again.

But she’s real.

She’s not some figment of my imagination, some ghost from a memory I never understood.

I can’t breathe.

The air around me feels heavy, suffocating, as if the very reality I’ve known is suddenly shifting, revealing cracks where nothing was supposed to be.

Laura is real.

My mind races, everything clicking into place—too many pieces I wasn’t prepared to see.

My cricket, the person I was pretty sure I had conjured up in my mind, is Laura. My baby sister.

Green eyes, a genius mind, that soft-spoken voice.

Then a wave of exhaustion hits, sudden and suffocating.

My eyelids feel heavy, like they’re being dragged down by weights.

I blink, trying to stay awake, trying to make sense of everything, but it’s way stronger than me.

The darkness pulls at me, and no matter how hard I fight it, I feel my body giving in.

Just before everything fades, I catch one last thought—my sister saved me—and then the world goes black.

CHAPTER 17

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