Oliver turned off the highway toward Oceanside, rumbling down the deserted road. The rain ceased, making the windshield wipers scrape across the dry surface. Jackson barked for Oliver to turn them off. Tension—fear—ran high.
We kept our eyes peeled as Anderson barked out directions. We were close. So close.
But would we be there in time?
30
Heaven
Ice-cold water rushed over my toes, swallowing my ankles in white-foam. The moon appeared from behind the drifting clouds, giving me a path reflecting off the dark water to follow.
One more step.
Then another.
Then it would be over.
The pain.
The disappointment.
The
shame.
The hollowness.
I touched the puckered skin from my most recent cut, hating it and craving it at the same time. No more of this. No more.
The boys—I pushed them out of my head. I couldn’t think of them now. It was just more pain. Their lives were better off without the tangled web of darkness that followed me.
I took another step, thinking of my father’s world. I’d cleanse myself. Make myself pure again. Maybe then I’d be worthy for the other side.
Another wave rolled over my knees, lapping at my skirt and at the cuffs of my sweater. The cold water chilled my skin, soothed the cuts. Took away the pain.
I took one last look at the stars above and plunged beneath.
31
Anderson
Amber’s little red car sat alone on the dirt road leading toward the ocean. I hopped out of the car before Oliver even stopped, running in the direction of crashing waves.
Something was so very, very wrong.
My shoes bogged in the wet sand and I kicked off my sneakers as I ran over the dunes down the path that led to the beach.
Moonlight lit my path, like a signal from the heavens, revealing fresh footprints in the sand. Voices called behind me—shouting her name. I didn’t waste my breath. I knew. In my heart, I knew.
I shucked off my hoodie, tossing it in the sand, following the footsteps straight to the edge of the water, heading into the icy ocean.
“Anderson!” I heard my name shouted in the wind. Oliver stood on the shore behind me. Jackson and Hayden took off in opposite directions of the beach.
I ignored him, shouting her name instead. “Heaven! Heaven!”
It was so dark. So ridiculously dark, and the water was freezing. I didn’t stop, knowing she was out there. Water seeped up my legs, pulling at my jeans. I waded in deeper. “Heaven!”
The tide tugged at me, sucking me under a cresting wave. I pushed off the bottom with my toes and on the other side, in the clear spot behind the cresting wave, I saw a splash of water.