Madeline

Chapter 33

Time seemed to have lost all meaning for me now that I didn't have to pretend for anyone. Once I was inside, I went to the sofa in the sitting room to cry. My intention was only to stay there for a little while, but before I knew it, the room had grown dark. Which meant I'd been there for hours.

Once I realized it, I stood up and went to bed, not caring to do anything else. I reasoned that I was still keeping my promise to Anne since I'd eaten breakfast and I hadn't actually said how much I would eat.

Unfortunately, sleep didn't offer any sort of escape. The little that I managed to get was restless and the few dreams echoed my thoughts when I was awake.

When the room brightened with the sun, I got up and began going through the motions to prepare myself for the day. As I was combing through my hair, I realized what I wanted to do.

I'd been shying away from any mention of Reed or the house, afraid of causing something to burst inside me, making it impossible to stop crying. But suddenly, I needed to see the house. I understood in my mind that Reed was gone, but my heart still had trouble believing that. It needed proof.

If nothing else, I needed to say good bye to the house and everything it represented.

I quickly finished getting ready and grabbed an apple on the way out the door. As I walked, I felt a little guilty about my promise to Michael, but I brushed the feeling off easily enough since I wasn't "wandering". I knew exactly where I was going. It was just a good distance through the woods and I knew he wouldn't like me to go alone.

There were a lot of branches, little hills, and other obstacles to watch out for, so it didn't take much effort to shut most other thoughts out of my mind as I progressed through the woods. But after a while, I had to stop to rest. I'd been rushing along and enough of the hike was uphill that I was struggling to catch my breath.

Finding a log to sit on, I bit into my apple, glad to have something to do while I waited to feel ready to continue. Of course, that didn't keep my mind occupied. As I nursed my apple, thoughts of Reed filled my head and I absently fiddled with my locket. It was worse here. Everywhere I looked, I almost expected him to come walking through the trees.

When I felt revived, I discarded the apple core and stood. As I did, something caught my eye in the distance. Stilling, I peered in the direction I'd seen movement, hoping for one desperate second that it was Reed coming toward me the way I'd been trying not to picture. But after a minute, it was obvious nothing was there. I shook my head at my stupidity and began walking again. It was probably just a deer or some other animal.

In an effort to prevent myself from getting winded again, I slowed my pace and looked around more, appreciating the beauty of this place rather than just focusing on who wasn't here. As I became more aware of my surroundings, I heard rustling and a snapping twig from somewhere behind me. Those sounds weren't out of place in the woods, but they were still a little odd since I wasn't making them. The noise came from the same direction I thought I saw the animal before and automatically, I turned to look.

It took a second to focus through the trees, but when I was able to locate the source of the noise, I gasped. A man stood in the distance. It was startling enough that anyone else was so nearby for so long without making their presence known, but this man wore a disturbing smile and he was watching me intently.

Not wanting to wait around to find out what he wanted, I turned and ran toward the house. Thankfully, I'd already covered most of the distance and it wasn't too much farther. I just prayed that the man behind me either wasn't very fast or that I'd only imagined his interest.

Unable to help it, I glanced back a minute later and both of those hopes were crushed. He was closer than before and he was laughing. Apparently he thought this was some sort of game.