Chapter 144
Elara's POV
The next few days blurred together.
I woke up before dawn and worked. Chopped wood until my arms ached. Hauled water from the well. Helped repair a section of fence that had rotted through.
But I was never just working.
My eyes tracked every movement at the village entrance. Every stranger who passed through. Every unusual sound from the forest. The physical labor kept my hands busy, but my mind stayed sharp. Alert.
The river had bought us time. The current had carried us far enough that our scent trail was broken. Wild Hunt would be searching upstream, combing through the areas where they last had contact. They'd assume we drowned or died from injuries.
For now, we were ghosts.
But I knew better than to relax. I positioned myself where I could see the main path into the village. Kept my knife within reach even when hauling water. Memorized escape routes.
The villagers were wary at first. Watching me with suspicious eyes. But I kept my head down and worked, and slowly they started to accept my presence.
At night, I sat beside Lynette's bed. Wiped her face with a damp cloth. Changed her bandages when they needed changing. Made sure she was warm.
She never woke up. But her breathing got steadier. The fever that had been burning through her those first few days started to break.
Kiki visited every evening. He'd sit cross-legged on the floor and tell me about his day, about the other kids in the village, about the time he found a frog in the well.
I didn't mind the company. It was easier than sitting in silence.
"Where do you come from?" he asked one night.
"Oregon. A town called Misty Creek."
His eyes went wide. "That's really far!"
"Yeah. It is."
"Why did your sister come all the way here?"
I looked down at Lynette's sleeping face. "I don't know. But I'm going to find out."
---
On the fifth evening, Kiki appeared in the doorway with an eager expression.
"Elara! Come with me!"
I glanced at Lynette. Her breathing was steady, face peaceful. She hadn't changed position in hours.
"Where?"
"I want you to meet my friends! I told them all about you, but they don't believe me. They think I'm making you up!"
Despite everything, I almost smiled. "Making me up?"
"They say there's no way someone like you would come to our boring village." He grabbed my hand. "Please? Just for a little while?"
I looked back at Lynette one more time. The room felt smaller every day. The walls pressing in. Maybe some fresh air would help.
"Okay. But just for a bit."
Kiki's whole face lit up.
---
The other kids were waiting in a small clearing just outside the village. Six or seven of them, ranging from maybe seven to ten years old. They stopped talking when they saw me.
"See!" Kiki announced proudly. "I told you she was real!"
A boy with messy brown hair crossed his arms. "So what? She's just some girl."
"She's not just some girl, Tommy! She came all the way from Oregon to find her sister! And she's not afraid of anything!"
Tommy snorted. "Yeah right. I bet she's scared of ghosts."
"I am not!"
"Prove it." Tommy pointed toward the forest. "Go to the graveyard and stay there for ten minutes. My dad says someone dug up a grave there last week. Probably a zombie trying to get out. If you're really not scared—"
"Tommy, stop trying to scare her!" one of the girls interrupted.
"I'm not scared," Tommy insisted. "But she probably is."
I looked at Tommy. He couldn't have been more than nine, puffing out his chest like he'd issued some great challenge.
It reminded me of Lynette. The way she used to dare Ethan to climb higher, run faster, go further. Always pushing.
"Alright," I said.
Kiki's eyes went huge. "Really?"
"Really. But you all have to promise me something first."
Tommy frowned suspiciously. "What?"
"Promise you'll be careful. Don't go looking for danger just to prove you're brave. It's not worth it."
They stared at me.
"Do you promise?"
Slowly, they all nodded.
"Good." I turned toward the forest. "I'll be back in ten minutes."
As I walked away, I heard Kiki whisper-shouting behind me: "I told you she was awesome!"
---
The graveyard was exactly where they'd said it would be. Small, overgrown, forgotten.
I stood at the edge and looked at the graves. My eyes immediately found the one I'd torn open days ago. Someone had filled it back in—probably the villagers after they discovered it. The earth was still darker there, freshly turned. A crude wooden cross had been replanted, slightly crooked.
The girl who wasn't Lynette.
I hadn't bothered to cover her back up. I'd been too desperate, too focused on getting to Lynette.
The villagers must have found the open grave... That's probably where Tommy got his 'zombie' story.
But I wasn't here for the ghosts.
I was here because I needed to think. Needed to be alone for a few minutes without Kiki's chatter or Martha's worried looks or the sight of Lynette lying there so still.
And because I needed to check something.
I walked along the edge of the clearing, eyes scanning the ground. Looking for any sign that Cole had been here. A marker, a message, anything.
The river was close. I could hear it rushing past somewhere beyond the trees.
If Cole had made it out of the river like I did, he'd leave a sign. Something only I would recognize.
I just had to find it.