Chapter 65
The air smelled like pine needles and expensive chocolate.
I sat on the wooden porch steps, hugging my knees. The wind tickled my cheeks. Whoosh.
It was perfect.
The mountains were tall and snowy, like giant vanilla ice cream cones. The river was sparkling like it was made of diamonds. The cows were ringing their bells. Clang. Clang.
"It is exactly like the picture," I whispered to myself.
When I was thirteen years old, Sydney and I cut a picture out of a travel magazine. We glued it into our shared "Dream Journal."
Sydney: "One day, Ali, we will live there. We will have ten dogs and zero boys." Me: "And we will eat cheese fondue every day!"
I smiled a sad, wobbly smile.
I looked up at the blue sky. I waved my hand.
"Hi, Syd!" I called out. "Are you seeing this? I made it! I am here! The cheese is very good!"
I waited.
Of course, the sky didn't answer. Clouds just drifted by.
I looked down at my hands. I was holding something small and pink.
It was a crocheted heart. I made it last night while Gabriel was sleeping. It was lopsided and the yarn was a bit tangled, but it was made with love!
I stood up slowly. I walked through the tall grass toward the riverbank.
I found a soft patch of soil near a cluster of yellow wildflowers.
I knelt down. I used a stick to dig a small hole. Scrape. Scrape.
I kissed the pink heart.
"For you, Cousin," I whispered. "Since you can't be here... part of me stays here with you."
I placed the heart in the hole. I covered it with the dark earth. I plucked three yellow flowers and placed them on top like a little grave.
Tears blurred my vision.
I wiped them away aggressively.
"No crying!" I scolded myself. "I am a strong potato!"
I looked back at the cottage.
Gabriel was inside, probably doing boring logistics or drinking black coffee.
I am still mad at him! Super mad! He is a cheater (maybe?) and a liar (definitely!).
But...
"Thank you for bringing me here," I mumbled to the wind. "Even if you are a villain... you gave me my dream."
BZZZT.
My phone vibrated in my pocket.
I sniffled. I sat down on the grass next to Sydney's flower grave.
I pulled out my phone.
My brow furrowed.
"Hah?!" I gasped.
I changed my number! Gabriel gave me a new SIM card yesterday! He said it was "encrypted" and "secure against Mosor minions."
How did the Unknown Number find me?! Is he a wizard?!
My thumb hovered over the screen.
Don't open it, Aleesha. It is bad vibes.
But curiosity is a disease! And I am terminal!
I clicked it.
I bit my lip.
"It is probably just Photoshop," I told myself. "Just haters trying to ruin my vacation."
I opened the file.
...
...
My world stopped. The birds stopped singing. The river stopped flowing.
It wasn't Photoshop.
It was a photo. A high-resolution, terrifying photo. It looked like a warehouse.
And hanging from the ceiling beams... were men.
More than twenty men.
They were swaying in the air. Their faces were purple and swollen. Their eyes were bulging out. But they weren't hanging by ropes.
My eyes zoomed in on the terrifying detail. The "ropes" around their necks... were pink and fleshy and wet.
They were...
They were...
Their own intestines. Strangled by their own insides.
Gag.
Bile rose in my throat.
I dropped the phone. Thud.
It landed face up in the grass. The dead eyes of the men stared at the sky.
"No," I squeaked. "No, no, no."
My knees started to tremble. Then my hands. Then my whole body. I couldn't breathe. The air suddenly smelled like copper. Like blood. I wrapped my arms around myself and started to rock back and forth.
"It's a movie," I whimpered. "It's a horror movie prop. It's not real."
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Running footsteps.
"Aleesha?"
I couldn't look up. I was staring at the phone screen.
Strong arms scooped me up.
I was lifted into the air.
"Gabriel!" I wailed, burying my face in his chest. "Gabby!"
Gabriel didn't look at the phone. He kicked it away with his boot.
He carried me bridal style, rushing back toward the cottage.
"I have you," he growled, holding me tight. "Don't look. Close your eyes."
He brought me inside. He sat on the sofa and kept me on his lap, cradling me like a baby.
I clutched his shirt. I ruined his expensive fabric with my snot and tears.
"They were hanging!" I sobbed. "With their tummy ropes! Gabby! Who does that?! Who is that evil?!"
My chest started to feel like a giant, invisible elephant was sitting on it.
Huk. Wheeze.
My breathing became ragged. Short, shallow gasps that sounded like a broken whistle.
Oh no.
My lungs were closing shop! They were going on strike!
"I... can't..." I clawed at my throat, my eyes widening in panic.
I forgot my inhaler! It was upstairs in my bag! My nebulizer was in the kitchen!
I shouldn't cry this hard! My doctor told me! Extreme emotions trigger the wheeze! But how can I not cry when I just saw an intestine necklace?!
My vision started to get spotty. Black dots danced around Gabriel's worried face. I felt lightheaded, like I was floating away.
"Aleesha?" Gabriel's voice turned sharp. "Breathe."
"C-Can't..." I gasped, my face turning red.
Gabriel didn't panic. He didn't run upstairs to find my bag. He didn't call for help.
Instead, he reached into his pocket—the pocket of his jeans.
He pulled out a small, pink plastic device.
An inhaler?
My eyes bulged.
Why does he have an inhaler in his pocket?! He doesn't have asthma! Does he just carry random medical supplies?!
He uncapped it with one hand, shaking it expertly. Shake. Shake.
"Open," he commanded, bringing the mouthpiece to my lips.
I opened my mouth instinctively, desperate for air.
Pffft.
He pressed the canister. The cold mist hit the back of my throat.
"Hold it," he instructed, his voice calm and steady, anchoring me.
I followed his voice. I did it again.
Pffft.
Slowly, the elephant stood up and walked off my chest. The air rushed back into my lungs. Whoosh.
My breathing stabilized. My heart rate slowed down from Techno Beat to Ballad.
I slumped against him, exhausted, staring at the pink inhaler in his hand.
Gabriel stroked my hair. His hand was large and warm.
"It is fake," he said smoothly. His voice was calm, but his heart was beating fast against my ear. "It is AI-generated gore. It is what Mosor does. They try to terrorize us."
"But it looked so reaaaal!" I cried.
"Technology is dangerous," he whispered, kissing my forehead repeatedly. "I am sorry, Aleesha. I will have Sean track this number. I will buy you a new phone. A better one. No one will send you these things again."
"Promise?" I sniffled.
"I promise."
He held me until my crying turned into hiccups. And then into silence.
I was exhausted. Being terrified burns a lot of calories!
I fell asleep in his arms, believing him but... but the alternative was believing that my husband was the monster who did that.
And I can't believe that. Not yet.
★
The Next Day.
"We are going home," Gabriel announced.
He was packing my bag. I was just sitting on the bed, holding Primrose. I was still traumatized by the Intestine Picture.
"To New York?" I asked weakly.
"Yes. The estate."
Waahhh. The isolated mansion. The scary forest.
"Okay," I nodded. "As long as there are no intestine pictures there."
We boarded the pink jet.
The pilot started the engine. We took off.
I looked out the window. "Goodbye, Sydney," I whispered. "Goodbye, dream."
We were flying for a few hours. I was eating a croissant.
Suddenly...
BAM!
The plane shook violently!
"Ack!" I dropped my croissant.
"Turbulence," Gabriel said instantly, grabbing my hand.
But this wasn't normal turbulence. The plane tilted sideways! Whoooaaaa!
"Pilot!" Gabriel barked into the intercom.
"Hydraulic failure, Sir! We are losing altitude! We need to put her down!"
"Do it," Gabriel commanded. He didn't look scared. He looked like he was solving a math problem.
I, however, was screaming!
"PRIMROSE! HOLD ON!" I hugged the dog. "LORD! I AM SORRY FOR STEALING THE COOKIE WHEN I WAS FIVE! SAVE MEEEE!"
The plane descended fast.
We weren't going to an airport. We were going toward a dense, green forest in the mountains.
SKID. BUMP. CRUNCH.
The plane landed on rough terrain. We bounced! My soul left my body!
Then... silence.
We stopped.
"Out," Gabriel unbuckled my belt. "Now."
We stood in the middle of a grassy clearing. The plane was smoking a little bit (scary!).
"Where are we?" I asked, looking around.
It was... pretty. Lots of trees. Birds chirping. Totally isolated.
"A detour," Gabriel muttered. He was typing furiously on his phone. "Rescue plane is en route. Thirty minutes."
I stood there, holding Primrose's leash. I felt like Little Red Riding Hood lost in the woods.
I looked around.
My gaze traveled past the trees.
I squinted.
"Huh?"
Far away... maybe two football fields away... I saw something.
A roof.
It wasn't a cabin. It was a big, white house. It looked like a farmhouse! It had a porch and a garden full of flowers.
"Gabby!" I tugged on his sleeve. "Look! A house! Civilization!"
Gabriel looked up.
His eyes went wide. Wider than I had ever seen them. He shoved his phone in his pocket. He grabbed my wrist. Hard.
"We need to move," he said sharply. "The pilot said the signal is better on the west ridge. Come."
He started pulling me toward the forest, away from the house.
"What?" I dug my heels into the dirt. "But Gabby! The house is right there! Maybe they have a landline! Or pie!"
"No," Gabriel snapped. "We go to the ridge. The rescue plane needs visibility."
"But this plane is huge!" I pointed to our jet. "It is a giant pink bird! The other pilot will see it! Why are we walking into the bushes?!"
My gaze went back to the house.
The front door opened.
A figure stepped out.
It was a girl. She was wearing a sun hat and a long dress. She was carrying a basket.
"Look!" I pointed. "A girl! She is gardening!"
Gabriel's grip on my wrist tightened until it hurt.
"Aleesha, stop looking!" he growled. He stepped in front of me, trying to block my view with his broad chest. "We are leaving. NOW."
He tried to drag me. But I ducked under his arm.
I needed to see.
The girl walked down the porch steps. She walked to a bed of blue hydrangeas. She moved with a bouncy step. A happy step. She took off her sun hat to wipe her forehead. Her long, wavy brown hair cascaded down her back.
She turned her face toward the sun.
My heart stopped beating. My blood turned to ice.
I know that face.
I memorized that face.
"No..." I whispered.
Gabriel grabbed my shoulders, trying to turn me around. "Aleesha, look at me! Look at me!"
I shoved him away.
I shoved him away. "NO!" I yanked my hand back with surprising strength.
I took a step toward the house.
The girl turned. She must have heard us shouting.
She looked across the field.
The sun hit her face.
My world stopped spinning. The trees vanished. The plane vanished. Gabriel vanished.
There was only her.
The smile. The eyes. The face I had cried over for years. The face I have in a picture frame next to my bed with a black ribbon on it.
Sydney.
My cousin. My best friend.
The one who "died" in a car accident (according to the official report). The one whose funeral I attended (closed casket).
She was standing there. Alive. Breathing. Watering flowers.
My knees gave out.
"Syd...ney?" I choked out.