Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59739 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59739 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Adrian and Rachel have both fallen asleep, or at least, they’re pretending to be so they don’t have to keep thinking about the situation before us.
“She doesn’t look like she is there willingly,” Aggie mutters. “She looks so scared. There has to be something we can do.”
“As much as I wish there was, we can’t. If we show our presence, all of our lives are in danger,” I say, and even though I know that is the truth, the words make my heart ache.
“That could have been us, you know,” Aggie whispers, and Tatiana flinches beside me.
She’s right, though.
It could have been.
We all fall silent again, but Tatiana reaches over, taking my hand and squeezing.
Night eventually comes, and we lose direct sight of them. We can only see the low glow of their fire.
“Try and sleep,” Ace murmurs, his voice low as he looks in my direction. “We’ll keep watch.”
“Yeah,” Zeke agrees. “No point in you girls staying up all night. Lie down, we will wake you if we need.”
They’re right, what else do we do?
I use my old jacket as a pillow and lie down. It’s strange how quickly I have become used to sleeping on firm surfaces. If you had asked me years ago if I could spend a night on a rock, I would have laughed. But here I am, stretched out on the cool rock, a jumper under my head, just staring out at the stars.
I don’t sleep. I can’t.
Every time I hear one of the guys shift, or move, I expect them to suddenly announce it’s time to run, but they don’t.
No, the night just falls silent, and if I close my eyes and breathe, I can almost imagine I am anywhere else.
Right now, I have never wanted anything more in my life.
I DON’T KNOW HOW, BUT I manage to drift off to sleep.
When I wake, my back aches and it takes me a moment to remember where I am.
Blinking, the heavy darkness surrounds me. I’m used to a fire, something to light up the area, but right now, there is nothing but pure night. Not even the moon is shining, as the dreaded rain clouds have come back and covered it, though as of right now, it hasn’t started raining. Gosh, I hope it doesn’t, because if it does then we will get cold, fast.
Pushing to my feet, heart racing, I try to look around but I can’t see anything.
A panic grips me, one I haven’t felt at all since I’ve been here. It’s like this deep desperation, as if I am trapped in a nightmare I can’t get out of.
“Hey.”
A voice from the darkness.
Ace.
“You good?”
It’s then I realise my breathing is heavy, as if I am panting after a run.
I can’t answer him, my hands wave out in front of me, hating that I can’t see.
A warm hand curls around one of them, and then I’m being pulled into a hard, familiar chest.
Every part of me knows I should push him away, I should push him off, but I can’t seem to make myself move. Not when his arms circle me, a comfort I didn’t even realise I needed. When my face squashes into his chest a little deeper, and I can hear his heartbeat, I know that I am done for. I couldn’t step back now, even if I tried. Even if I wanted to, pulling away in this second would make this situation feel so much worse.
So, I stay.
I stand there in the perfect black, rigid, insides shaking. Ace doesn’t say anything, just holds me. The way he always holds me—like someone who knows how to fight, but also like someone who could shatter if you dropped him hard enough. I wonder if it’s possible to be both.
For a long time, it’s just my heartbeat, and the foggy, too-warm breath shared between us. I never thought I’d be the kind of person who needed to be held by anyone, especially not like this. Especially not by Ace, who I still haven’t forgiven for what he did, or what he’s done, which is just about everything.
But in the black, it’s hard to sort out all the ways I want to punish him.
“I hate the dark,” I whisper.
His hand settles against my hair. He smells of salt and smoke. “You’re alright, Gracie. We’re all alright.”
I shake my head so hard I think he will feel it in his jaw. “I’m not, though. I’m not.”
He pulls me tighter, until his stupid heartbeat is the only thing in the universe that makes sense. “You want to sit?”
I nod, or maybe I just collapse, because suddenly I’m on the ground, and he’s still holding on. The cave air is cool, but our bodies are warm, pressed together. The darkness is so thick it feels like being underwater, and all the bad memories want to crawl up my throat and choke me. I can’t keep it in. Maybe it’s the pirates, or the situation, or maybe I’m just so damn tired.