Five Ways to Say Goodbye

Chapter 20

Samantha

My heart hammers in my chest when I walk up the stairs, taking them two at a time. However much I want to delay witnessing what I'm about to, I can't dilly dally any longer. I step into the dark room.

It's the same as it was the first time.

Speckles of dark crimson decorate the baby blue nightstand, the pale gray carpet stained with blood. The diary is there, but it wasn't the first time. Now it is perched propped open to the page with the last entry. The spine is bent, but still usable.

She is there.

Her chocolate hued hair spilling out around her head like a halo. In a way, it's elegant. Peaceful even. Her eyelids are closed, her long lashes tickling the beginning of her cheekbones, lips painted a ruby red.

"I did it for you." It doesn't scare me this time, like it did before.

"I know," I turn so I'm facing her, "that's what hurts the most."

Cameron's features are mostly obscured by shadows, but a slash of moonlight cuts across her skin, allowing me to see her eyes. They are narrowed but pleading, malicious but brimmed with tears. In her hand is the knife that she used, still dripping with Noelle's blood. Cameron takes a stride closer to where I stand, and when I step back, I trip over Noelle's arm, her body splayed out on the floor.

I am falling.

Wind whistles past my ears, tangling my hair in my face. It rushes all around me, brushing against my skin like soft silk, caressing me in its embrace. As I plummet to the sand below, I catch sight of Cameron, standing on the ledge above, her features twisted with shock.

I land in the meadow.

Rising to my feet, I absorb my surroundings. The sway of tall grass in the delicate breeze, an owl hooting in a distant tree, obscured by long branches that tangle together.

"Oh," Cassidy sighs in relief, "it's you."

My fingers curl around the blade of a dagger, gripping it against the side of my thigh. Cassidy stares at me, I can sense the hatred radiating off of her.

"You killed me." Her voice is accusing and sturdy.

"No," I defend, "Cameron did."

"For you."

When I blink, she is no longer Cassidy, but Alora. Her knuckles are white from holding them in fists so tightly.

"Look what you did to me!" Blood dribbles from a deep gash in her neck, down the front of her cream colored shirt. "Look what you did to us."

I jolted up in my bed abruptly, my head pounding. My throat is raw from screaming in my sleep, and I thrash against the bed covers that pin me to the mattress.

"Samantha," a nurse, who's name I can't recall, is at my side in an instant. "It's just a dream, okay? Just a dream." She soothes, stroking my hair daintily. Sweat prickles my forehead and neck, dampening my pillow case.

"Can you drink some water for me?" She asks, holding a plastic cup to my lips. I take it, letting the cool liquid trickle down my sore throat. The door swings open without a sound. Theo stands there, even at a distance I can see the dark circles under his eyes.

"Just call if you need anything, alright?" I nod, and the nurse leaves the room. Theo steps aside from the door so she can skitter past, and I wonder how many times she has had to come in here and comfort me. Theo crosses the room, climbing into the bed, laying flat on his back alongside me. He's staring at the ceiling when I glance over at him.