Page 34 of Firestorm
It wasn’t even that late, but I’d gone to bed early since Willow wasn’t there to distract me. My stomach rolled. I resisted the urge to dry-heave into the grass.
I’d also forgotten to eat.
I was a mess.
This always seemed to happen after a stressful day. I’d spent the evening panicking about stupid fucking Landon, staring at my dormitory door like it would burst open at any moment and I’d be taken into custody.
That hadn’t happened, though, and somehow I’d fallen asleep.
But the nightmares always got me. Always.
I stumbled further into the grass off the stone path, toward the trees. I was practically holding my breath, hoping I could hold in the tears just a little bit longer. There were too many people around, and if anyone saw me throw up, I’d die from humiliation.
Crying in front of people wasmortifying. Throwing up in public, though? I’d never recover. I might actually die.
Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad, I thought, then shuddered. Zephyr would have whacked me with a pillow for that one.
I made my way to the edge of the trees, then jogged into the woods. And then, as if things couldn’t get worse, my shadow decided to make itself known. I still hadn’t figured out how or why I could sense it was nearby, and part of me should have been horrified that something or…someonecould be witnessing my mild breakdown.
But as usual, I didn’t sense anything negative. This shadow seemed harmless. It’d watched me sleep and hadn’t done anything weird, so…
My foot clipped an exposed tree root, and I stumbled, then cursed. I staggered into a clearing, half-hopping with my stubbed toe, and then…I froze. My jaw dropped.
The clearing before me…was beautiful.
It was a garden of sorts. Wildflowers covered the grassy clearing, parted only by worn-down dirt paths. Rose bushes climbed up the trees and sunflowers stood tall over a patch of blue flowers. I drew closer, drawn in by the pretty sky-blue shade, then sucked in a sharp breath.
Irises.
I sunk down to my knees, then maneuvered so that I sat with my legs crossed. I ran my fingers over the flowers slowly, blowing out a shaky breath as I attempted not to cry.
My shadow was still nearby, floating on the other side of the blue flower patch, seemingly studying me, like it couldn’t figure out why these specific flowers made me emotional.
“My mom’s name was Iris,” I explained softly to…the air.Really sane, Skye. “She’s been gone a long time. My dads had irises planted all over the yard but–”
But we had to leave.
I didn’t dare say that part out loud.
I leaned back on the palms of my hands and pointed my face toward the sky. I closed my eyes, allowing a few tears to seep out. The memory of Levi’s words rang through my mind.
‘If the tears are there, they need to be let out. Let them out, Skye.’
I miss you, I thought into the universe.I regret not speaking to you more.
I’d never thought it was possible to miss a voice. Zephyr had a few videos of our mom and Ben, but without being able to watch them, I’d completely forgotten their voices. I shared my mom’s face, and that was the only reason I even remembered what she looked like. Zephyr looked just like Levi, but with our mom’s eyes. Neither of us looked like Ben, and that devastated me. He was my biological father and I didn’t look anything like him, and he was gone like he’d never existed.
My shadow seemed to settle near me, like it was sitting close by and simply observing me. Crying in front of people was my worst nightmare,but the shadow wasn’t really a person…or at least…I didn’t think it was. I peered into the deep shadow of the tree nearest me, and if I looked really hard…I shook my head. I was losing my mind. There was no way I could sense the outline of a man there.
We sat in a comfortable silence for several minutes, which quickly turned into an hour. I picked a few flowers, peeling the petals away slowly before dropping the bare stem in front of me. Eventually, the shadow brushed across my cheek, wiping away the fresh stream of tears. I sniffled, then shivered slightly.
Though exhausted, I was pretty sure this shadow wasn’t in my imagination after all.
“I’ll find out who you are eventually,” I whispered, and then it disappeared.
Chapter 11
Skye
