He Promised Forever, Then Left Me

and broken. "I'm... I'm sorry." My voice was barely a whisper, a ghost

oked down at me, her eyes devoid of any real pain, only a chilling satisfaction. "It's okay, Grace," she

iveness. I recoiled, jerking my head away.

his face still etched with anger, his arm still protectively wrapped around Alexandri

lowed me, sharp barbs piercing my already shattered heart. I ran until my lungs burned, until the camp f

through me. My phone vibrated in my pocket. My parents. My only solace. I typed a

r rumbled in the distance, a low, ominous growl. Panic seized me. I was alone. Deep in unfamiliar woods, with a storm brewing, and

ind racing. I had t

reasing wind. The thunder grew louder, closer. Rain began to fall

osiah and Alexandria were standing near the main cabin, huddled unde

oice tight with frustration, spotting me

ed, the rain plastering my hair to my face. M

he woods, in a storm, for your hearing aids? Gra

y voice gaining a desperate edge. "I nee

boiling over. "You're seventeen! You can't just run of

words tearing from my throat, raw and painful. "

ied about you! Just like I'm worried about Alex! You t

things I' d overheard yesterday. It

ia whined, clinging to his arm, shivering dram

his eyes were still on me, filled wi

nd us seemed to mirror the tempest in my heart. The three of us stood there, dren

a piercing shriek, stumbled backward, pulling Josiah with her. Her foot slipped on the slick, muddy ground. I reached ou

the rough earth tearing at my skin. A sharp pain shot through my head as I hit something hard. My vision swam. And then,

ain. In the dark, in the storm, in the silence. It wa

hear it. I couldn't hear anything. The terrifying silence pres

as looking down, his face a contorted mask of fear and indeci

!" Alexandria cried, her voice a b

king, yelling maybe, but I couldn't hear a single w

me! Please! Not again!" The echoes of the car crash, of being left alone

my face, then on Alexandria's. His fea

one last time, a brief, haunted glance, and then he was gone. Disappearing