had turned around.
Another bout of sickening pain hit me, and my vision skewed. When I
looked up, the shapes of the trees and the leaves on the ground were brighter
and clearer than they should have been. I could make out details of things that
should have been impossible to see at night.
The scents of the forest were so overwhelming, I nearly gagged.
Hundreds of plants and animals that I could barely identify. Traces of
creatures and people that had passed by hours or days ago. The aroma of ripe
berries and dead animals and rotting vegetation.
Mind whirling, I pushed deeper into the woods with no idea of where I
was headed, just that I had to get as far away from the bonfire and those
people as possible.
The moon peeked through the leaves above. I ran and ran, stumbling
every time the agony returned. My skin felt raw, and even the lightest breeze
was too much.
This couldn’t be how Sam and Jaxson experienced the world, could it?
They’d go mad.
A wave of nausea hit me, and I doubled over and choked.
Deep breaths, Savy. You’re a badass bitch, and you’ll get through this.
Would I?
Gasping, I pushed forward into the trees, but the chafing of my clothes
against my skin became unbearable. I yanked off my shirt and shimmied out
of my jeans, cursing as they rubbed like sandpaper. My breathing came in
huffs, and tears streamed down my face. I slowed, too exhausted to continue.
The buzzing of cicadas, the scurrying of an animal in the underbrush, and
the creaking of branches—it was all deafening. I cupped my hands over my
ears and craned my head upward, silently praying for this all to be a
nightmare.
But it wasn’t.
A gut-wrenching force exploded inside me, snapping my spine like a