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Chapter 29
Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart is beating so hard against my ribs I feel like it's about to jump out of my chest on to the kitchen counter.
I've managed to keep fairly calm up to this point, but the thought of Lyall making pancakes for me... I want to do a crazy fangirl dance.
Lyall hums quietly to himself while he stirs the batter, and Felix is sitting next to me with his head down on the counter. He hasn't even touched his tea yet.
Alastaire flicks through something on his phone.
There's no reception out here, so I'm tempted to ask what he's doing, but I don't want him to think I'm being nosy.
The guys don't seem to notice how nervous I am, and realizing this helps me to calm down. I clutch my mug a little less tightly.
Everyone's lost in their own thoughts.
Apart from Lyall's softly murmured tune and the clinking of the spoon ag
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FABLE Chapter 30
“Your guess is as good as mine,” says Alastaire as he pokes at a pancake with his fork.“He went out for a bit,” Lyall says in between mouthfuls. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon. Don’t stress ‘bout it Kit.”“He went out?” says Kitty, her eyebrows knitting together in worry.“Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” Alastaire says. “He’s just out doing loner junk in the forest. Typical.”Kitty shakes her head, looking gloomily at the counter.“You worry too much,” says Ben as he pats her on the back. “It’s not like he’s gonna get run down by a rabid pack of bloodthirsty fangirls this deep in the woods. Unless you told your buddies about us, Ashling.”He winks at me, and I almost choke on the bite of pancake I was busy swallowing.
FABLE Chapter 31
"I'm not buying it," Kitty says as she drags me between moss-drenched oak trees and ferns, over the faint path snaking through the forest. "Why are you really here?"She's holding my hand so hard that I can feel her nails biting into the flesh of my palm. Even though she doesn't turn around as she asks the question, I can imagine her expression. There's a growl in her voice, something almost feral.She pulls me along behind her at a steady march, further and further away from the cabin, deeper and deeper into the forest.My skin prickles with goose bumps as the space between the trees lessens, and the woods get subtly darker. The overgrowth is thicker, the path more difficult to see than I remember it.Is this the way I came earlier?Then I see it. Just a few feet away, an impossibly dark shape streaks through the trees to my left, skittering away into the gloom. To
FABLE Chapter 32
I'm lying in my bed beneath the covers.My grandmother tucks me in. As she leans over me, she blocks out the light from my bedside lamp, and her wild tangle of flame red curls threaded with silver is lit up from behind. A halo fit for an angel. I must be about four years old. By the time I was seven, gran's hair had turned completely white.The memories that flicker through my dreams are soft and shimmering. Everything glows brighter than its real life counterpart, bursting with radiance, swimming in muted light."So, what will it be tonight my bairn?" She asks, tucking a stray hair behind my ear. "Sleeping Beauty? Rapunzel? Or maybe The Little Mermaid? It's been ages since you last heard that one."Most nights I'm perfectly happy to hear any of the countless fairy tales my gran tells. I've heard the same stories a million times over, and they never get old. But tonight is different.
FABLE Chapter 33
The last fragments of the dream swirl through my mind and disappear like smoke on the breeze. I wake up to five missed calls from Zee, and a string of increasingly hysterical texts from Jamie.16.30: Hey hun. Howd it go? Zee said you should be done by 5. Still up for coffee at night owl? Xx16.52: Babe? U there? We're at the usual spot.17.25: BABE WTAF WHERE R U? ANSWER YOUR PHONE18.48: K we're gna bail. Hope ur ok? X20.10: OMFG BABE ANSWER YOUR PHONE SRSLY21.05: I'm worried can u call me? Did everything go ok with the band? Did something happen babe?22.34: HOLY SHITBALLS ANSWER YOUR PHONE GEEZI've always been a deep sleeper – my parents say I could probably sleep through the apocalypse – but this is ridiculous. I passed out as soon as I got home yesterday, and I slept like the dead for more than twelve hours, even though my phone must have been buzzing all night.Tha
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By the time I get to the part of the forest where the two trails meet, the midmorning sun is filtering down through the leafy canopy.I passed by only one hiker on my way here, and I'm grateful for that – I must look really silly, and totally unprepared for a hike. I'm dressed in the outfit I was going to wear to Zee's house – a white babydoll dress with a print of tiny green flowers, and totally impractical white keds. Or at least they were white before I set out. Now they're brown, with a green stain on the left one's side.These shoes cost $70. Dammit.I stand at the crossroads, looking up and down the trails in case there's anyone coming, before I leave the path and slip into the forest.I walk in the direction of the tree with the silver fox pendant.The pendant is still hanging there, twinkling high up in the branches like a fallen star as it catch
FABLE Chapter 35
"It's right in front of you," a faint voice whispers in my left ear.I snap my head to the side, but there's no one there. I swing around and look back into the forest behind me as a shiver trickles down my spine. All I can see are tree trunks, gnarled branches dripping with green, overgrown ivy thickets, shadowy nooks. If someone is out here with me, they could be hiding anywhere.Don't be stupid. There's no one there. I'm just seeing things, like always.I turn back to where Felix is sitting on the porch, watching me boredly across the clearing. A few seconds pass with me frozen in place by a fear I can't place, and Felix waiting still as a sphinx, measuring me with his stony gaze."I said, it's right in front of you," he says. "That's what you came for, right? Just take it and leave."I look down at my feet. It takes me a moment to spot my BMX lying on i
FABLE Chapter 36
There's no light at the bottom on the ocean.I'm swaying on the currents in silence, giving no resistance as I twist gently on the tide.It's so cold here.There's no up or down, no before or after, no here or there. Nothing outside of myself. Nothing to separate me from the endless black depths.I'm stuck in an endless oceanic slumber, lulled by the gentle rocking motion of distant waves.I could stay this way forever.Something's nagging at the edges of my mind, pulling at my consciousness, demanding attention.Somewhere, there is more than this.I haven't always been here. I know there was something before.Something happened. Something so terrible that I've sealed it away, safe in the deepest recesses of my nightmares.It's here with me now.I made this darkness myself, so
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I wake up in an unfamiliar room.It takes me a moment to register my surroundings. I'm lying on a bed, on top of the covers and fully dressed (thank god), apart from my cardigan, which is hanging over the arm of a wooden chair in the corner of the room.It's a small room, with stone walls, a fireplace directly opposite the single bed and a bunch of yellow flowers in a clay mug on the windowsill.Branches and jewel-green leaves suffused with soft late morning light dance outside the window.I must be on the upper level of the cabin. This might even be the room Lyall was in before he came downstairs. I wonder how long I was out this time?I sit up, swinging my legs around the side of the bed. I stand up too soon and have to sit down again as a rush of black suddenly washes over me and recedes just as quickly.That's right. I was in such a rush to get to Z
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