twenty four

Anxiety had me pacing around the room, sitting on the floor, and climbing onto the table to see through the window, which revealed nothing but endless trees. Soon I settled for sitting around the table, my hunger returning. Compared to the torture I had endured up until last night, I could ignore the growls my stomach was making.

I’ve thought about going to sleep a few times in hopes of Natalie returning, but she had mentioned how hard it was to reach out to me. She

needed her strength to get to Xavier, so I resisted my impulse to nap just for the sake of talking to her again.

My fingers drummed on the stained surface of the white table as I wondered if she had warned Xavier yet.

I recalled the night I had been abducted, the bliss that had come before the chaos that is, and a heavy sadness settled on my chest. Xavier and I had laid in the woods in each other's arms. I was starting to feel the bond between us, I think. Just when I began to feel drawn to him, I was ripped away. That nig