Darkest Dawn (7 page)

Max looked up from her book. “Sorry I left the locker room. Chloe was getting on my nerves. I waited for you in the hallway.”

“It’s okay—”

“How did you end up in the boys’ bathroom?”

Bri searched her brain for an excuse. The terror she’d felt before came back with a vengeance. She fought to keep her voice steady. “I forgot my cap by the pool. I went out that way.”

“Hey.”

Bri stopped inches from Jake. His hands gripped her shoulders and she sucked in a deep breath as their eyes met. His head cocked to the side.

Max shoved her book back into her bag. “Sorry we took so long. Coach wanted to talk with Bri.”

Jake accepted a high-five from one his teammates leaving the building before returning his attention to Bri. “What did she say?”

Bri’s gaze wandered to the windows. Outside, the rain had stopped, leaving a grayish sky in its wake. A hooded person slipped past the influx of basketball players leaving the building. Bri noticed Sloane’s dark hair peeking from under the hood. She shivered, weighing the options of telling Max and Jake. The intrigue in her otherwise boring life in Willows Lake held her back.

“Earth to Bri.” Max nudged her arm. “She’s been like this since practice,” she directed at Jake.

Bri tore her eyes from Sloane and shook her head. “She wants to work with me one-on-one. She thinks I have a good chance at a scholarship.”

“That’s great!” Jake gently squeezed her arm.

Anytime Jake touched her she always experienced a flurry in her stomach. This time cold dread weighted her insides. She knew she should tell her friends about Sloane. She hated to lie to them. Instead, Bri offered a small smile and started for the exit. Jake’s fingers twined with hers and she paused, staring down at their hands. He led the way and she followed, prodded on by a secret thumbs-up from Max.

***

After Jake dropped Max off, all conversation ceased. Max had gone on about one of her teachers and Jake had interacted appropriately. Bri stayed silent while contemplating her day. The only sound was the radio, set on an AM talk show that Jake’s dad liked. She played with the hem of her shirt.

Jake broke the silence as they pulled off Max’s street. “Sorry about earlier today.”

She pulled her eyes away from the road. “Hmm?”

“Before lunch.” He pushed his fingers through his hair. “I’m not mad. If you’re not ready I can wait.”

If she hadn’t met Sloane, she might have pushed him. Her stomach turned. Not in the good way it had that morning when she saw him. Anticipation about meeting Sloane again had riddled its way through her body. Once she found out what Sloane was doing in Willows Lake she could resume her life. She didn’t want Jake to move on. As sure as she’d been that morning that she wanted this conversation, she didn’t want it while she was so distracted. “You’re going to be late for work.”

His eyes moved to the dashboard clock and he nodded and pressed on the gas. He turned up the volume on the radio and they sat in silence the rest of the ride home.

***

Guilt pressed on Bri’s chest as if she’d been holding her breath underwater for far too long. She watched Jake pull out of her driveway and waited until he was out of sight before she entered the condo. She threw her keys into the basket on the table in the hallway and dropped her backpack on the floor, kicking it out of the way. Then she locked the front door. It wasn’t like Sloane knew where she lived, but Kael’s warning popped into her head.

She headed into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator, drinking half of it before she realized she had about a half hour before her meeting with Sloane.

It was enough time for a phone call. She used the house phone to dial her mom’s number. Her voicemail picked up before the first ring. “Mom. Call my cell when you get this.” She dropped the phone into the cradle before opening the front closet. She pulled out a warm jacket. The woods were always cooler, especially in October, and after the rain she didn’t want to freeze to death. Not before getting some answers.

She bit her thumbnail. A nervous habit that Mom had tried to rid her of since before she could remember. She pocketed her cell phone and keys before heading to the door. Her hand hovered over the knob. She needed to be smart. She went to the table, picked up a pen, and scribbled down a quick note.
Meeting a friend five p.m. Friday.
She brought up Sloane’s number from her phone and jotted it down. At least if she never came home, someone might have a lead in finding her. She choked back a laugh as she read the note again. She needed to stop watching crime dramas.

She returned to the door, took a deep breath, and headed out of the house, locking it behind her.

Her condo was the last townhouse on the row, closest to the entrance to the woods. She rounded the corner and nearly jumped out of her skin as Tucker hopped out of his car a few spots away. She skittered around the steps and pressed her body against the exterior wall of her home. She didn’t think he’d seen her. She waited a minute before taking off for the woods.

***

Bri was barely out of breath by the time the back of the motel came into view. She and Abbey had explored these woods enough times for her to be able to travel through them with her eyes closed. Swimming helped her stamina too. She came to the edge of the woods by the motel without seeing Sloane anywhere. In the ten minutes of jogging, her mind had come up with enough scenarios of some look-alike murdering her and taking over her life. Even with the horrible images in her mind, like the cat, curiosity had her in a vise grip.

“You’re early.”

Bri whirled around. Sloane stepped out from behind a tree. Since Bri had seen her last, her mind had put Sloane in a strange fog, as if Bri had made her up. Seeing her in the flesh again intensified the sinking feeling in her stomach. Sloane was real. This stranger with her face was real. “You too.”

“It’s not like I had anywhere else to go.” Sloane stepped closer.

Bri stared at Sloane, wondering if the girl’s serious expression was what others saw when they looked at Bri in a similar mood. It was strange seeing how others perceived her own expressions.

Sloane rubbed her hands together. “Something happened to me before when we touched.”

Bri looked at her shoes. “What do you mean?”

Sloane stepped closer. “I felt like crap all day. Light-headed and nauseous.” She paused for a moment. “Actually it started when I got to the school.”

Bri thought it had only been her who felt it. The dizziness she’d experienced for most of the day had gone away when she and Sloane touched. Goose bumps raced over her arms. “Same here. I don’t feel anything now.”

“Me neither.”

Bri stared at Sloane, waiting for something—anything—to happen.

“Do you think we should try again?”

“What?”

“Touching.” Sloane smiled and shook her head. “This is nuts. I wanted to see if it was a one-time thing.”

Bri closed her hands into fists at her sides. “I don’t feel like I did before.”

“Neither do I. Aren’t you curious?”

Bri looked between Sloane’s multi-colored eyes. She felt the subtle movement of the contact over her own iris.

Before she could reply, Sloane touched her hand. Bri remembered how touching Sloane before had made her dizziness go away. This time was different. A fullness swept through her as if she’d found something she had no idea she’d been searching for. It was similar to the feeling that Jake sometimes gave her yet so much more. Sloane’s hand moved away quicker than Bri would have liked.

“Do you feel that?” Sloane whispered.

“Yes,” Bri said a little breathless.

Sloane pushed her hood from her head and twisted a chunk of hair around her fingers. “This is freaky. Like really frickin’ freaky.”

Bri shoved her hands into her jacket pockets. “Tell me about it.”

Sloane wiped a hand over her mouth. “Did you always live in Willows Lake?”

“Yes. Where are you from?”

Sloane shrugged and stepped back from Bri. That fullness she’d felt turned to a need inside of her, but she kept her feet planted. “All over. Dad moved us around a lot. Right now we live in Manhattan.”

“That seems cool.”

The corner of Sloane’s mouth quirked.

Bri wondered if she’d hit a nerve. She feared she was about to hit another one. “The note said it had information about your mother. What happened to her?”

Sloane cleared her throat. “She died in a car accident when I was eight. Here in Willows Lake.”

“I’m sorry.”

Sloane nodded. “Yeah.” She paused before continuing. “I don’t remember much of that night—”

“You were with her?”

“Yeah.”

Bri inspected Sloane as if she’d stumbled out of the car wreck seconds ago. Her chest tightened at the thought of what this girl had gone through.

“Even though I don’t remember much,” Sloane continued, “I always had a feeling that there was something more about the accident.”

“Like what?”

Sloane shook her head slowly, her gaze narrowing at the space behind Bri. “Like it wasn’t an accident.”

Bri sucked in a breath through her teeth. “And you think whoever brought you here has that information?”

“Yes.”

They were silent for a few seconds. All of Bri’s previous thoughts about Sloane taking over her life were gone in the cool breeze moving through the trees. She couldn’t imagine losing Abbey. A part of her moved to a dark thought, one she failed to remove from her mind no matter how hard she tried.

“From your reaction, I’m guessing you had no idea about me.”

“Why would I?”

Sloane pinched her lips together. “The person who wrote the letter never showed up. It can’t be a coincidence that someone who looks exactly like me lives in a town I was mysteriously summoned to.”

Bri rubbed her hands over her arms a few times, trying to warm up. “I’m telling you I have nothing to do with this.”

Sloane squinted her eyes as if she was trying to see through Bri. “I believe you. I also think you might be a part of this, whether you want to be or not.”

Bri turned around. She needed a second away from staring at her own face and time to think.

Sloane’s phone rang, jarring Bri. Sloane held up a finger and lifted it from her pocket.

“Hey, Dad.” Sloane turned away from Bri. “Yeah, school was fine. Amber’s mom is cooking a big dinner tonight.” Sloane listened and Bri took the moment to study her. Their movements weren’t anything alike. Sloane’s were more controlled as if she walked on eggshells. Bri could imagine that in Willows Lake she was. Especially if she was lying to her dad.

“Listen, I have to go.” Sloane turned her back to Bri. “I love you.”

Bri’s throat constricted.

Sloane turned to Bri, tucking her phone in her pocket. She bit her bottom lip before speaking. “When is your birthday?”

Bri swallowed. Did Sloane think they were twins? What would that mean for her family? Bri had always thought the majority of her looks came from the father she never knew, since many people had commented that her mom’s fair hair and skin were strikingly different from Bri’s dark hair and olive complexion. Was she ready to come face to face with the fact that she might have been lied to her whole life? “June tenth. You?”

Sloane chewed on her lip again. “Okay. Mine is June first.”

A weight lifted off Bri’s chest. “You thought we were twins?”

Sloane smirked. “The thought didn’t cross your mind?”

Bri smiled back at her. “It did. Although we are both Geminis.”

“I don’t believe in that astrology stuff.” Sloane dug the toe of her shoe into the forest ground. “I’m not here long. The latest I can stay is Sunday. Dad gets home from Paris on Monday.”

“Paris?”

“He’s a pilot.” Sloane tilted her head back, looking up at the canopy of trees. “It gives me a lot of freedom.” She lifted an eyebrow. “What does your dad do?”

“I never met him.”

“What does your mom do?” Sloane asked instead.

“She’s a school librarian. She’s—”

“Oh my God!”

Bri whirled around. Tucker stood by the path, his mouth hanging open.

Sloane stepped back. “Who’s he?”

Bri clenched her jaw. “What are you doing here?”

Sloane raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t tell him to come here?”

“No way,” Bri said and once again turned to her friend. “Tucker, why did you follow me?”

Tucker moved around the girls, his eyes darting between them. “We had plans tonight. Remember? When I saw you come out this way I thought you were headed to the diner.”

Sloane shouldered her bag. “I trusted you to keep this a secret.”

Bri thought of the secret that Tucker had trusted her to keep five years ago. She answered without hesitation. “I kept your secret. He won’t tell anyone.”

Sloane stared at Bri and she wished she could convince her that Tucker was a vault where secrets were concerned. Sloane eyed him yet Bri could sense her guard going down.

Tucker grinned and mimed zipping up his lips and throwing away an invisible key. “This is really freaky.” He stepped between the girls, moving his gaze between them. “So how long have you known about each other?”

Sloane didn’t move from her spot. “I came here last night.”

“From where? Doppelgänger land?” Tucker mused then cupped his hands over his mouth, gasping lightly. “Or are you two long-lost twins?”

Bri waited for Sloane to speak up first. She wondered how forthcoming Sloane would be now that Tucker knew about her.

“We’re not twins,” Sloane said.

Tucker continued to shake his head. Bri thought it might eventually roll off his shoulders if he didn’t stop. “Why would you want to come here?”

“Someone told her they had information about her mom.”

Tucker stared at the girls. “Is she in the mafia or something?”

Bri hissed through her teeth.

Sloane put her bag at her feet. “She died.”

Tucker’s mouth dropped open. “I’m an ass. Sorry.”

Sloane smiled politely. “It happened a while ago. We were in a car accident.” Sloane rubbed at the spot between her eyebrows. “I don’t remember much. What I do know is that something was off about it.”