Chapter 31
CHAPTER
CHARLEY
The second I entered the hut, Natalie sat up. “I’m so glad you took my advice and kissed Thad.”
“How do you know I kissed him?”
“Please. I think everyone saw that kiss by the fire. And it’s about damn time.
” She smiled, then she looked down. Twisting her covers between her fingers, she spoke quietly.
“I know this sounds old school, but don’t waste a minute.
Not one. Time flies here, faster than you’re ready for. No regrets, okay?”
“Okay.” I nodded.
Natalie looked up. “So if you want to stay with Thad tonight, I understand.”
I felt slow, realizing Thad had already considered it and decided against it. “The thought hadn’t occurred to me,” I admitted.
“Well, don’t feel like you have to stay with me. My feelings won’t be hurt, I promise.”
“It’s okay. Really.” I smiled as I curled up on the bed across from hers. “I’m good.”
I meant it. I wanted to be with Thad, but I also needed a minute to ground myself. Plus, Thad had sensed Natalie could use some company.
“You sure?” she asked.
“Totally.” I nodded. “I know how lonely this hut feels with only one person. I hate being alone, especially at night.”
“Seriously? You made it eleven nights by yourself in the creepiest place ever.”
“Barely.” I shivered. “At one point, I lost it. I mean really lost it. Bawled like a baby.”
Sometimes I thought there was something wrong with me because I rarely cried.
I didn’t even cry at my granddaddy’s funeral, even though we were close and I missed him terribly.
When I thought tears should fall, they didn’t.
But I’d cried here, when I realized I was totally alone. And I hadn’t cried since.
Natalie was staring at me. “Honey, I lost it the minute I woke up. And for the next few weeks, I kept freaking about stupid stuff, like all the school I was missing, and how behind I would be when I got back. Then I realized I’d be lucky if I got back.
” She shook her head. “Don’t feel bad about losing it.
Nil has a way of getting to everyone, sooner or later. ”
I wasn’t exactly sure what she meant.
“So you and Thad, huh?” Natalie grinned, a wicked Em grin. “I like it.”
“Me too.” I couldn’t help smiling. “You know what’s crazy? I didn’t even know his last name until tonight.”
“What is it?”
“What?”
“Thad’s last name,” Natalie said. “What is it?”
“Blake,” I answered, surprised.
“Kevin’s is Radford. Mine’s Bourdean. Natalie Bourdean.”
“Charley Crowder.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Charley Crowder.” She chuckled, but under the laugh, she sounded exhausted.
“I’m glad you’re back, but I’m not, ya know?” I said.
“Yeah.” Her voice was small. “I know.”
“How many gates did y’all see? Jason said one flashed near the rain forest, but too far away to catch.”
“So far away I didn’t see it, but Jason swears it was there. It doesn’t matter.” She sighed. “I didn’t catch it.”
“It just means that gate wasn’t yours. You’ll catch one, Natalie. You’ll make it.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Me too, I thought, but I said, “Did you see any others?”
“One, the first day, near the hills. A bird flew into it, and it collapsed.”
“Any inbound?”
“Nope.”
I nodded, taking mental notes.
“Natalie, the big carving, the one by the Arches. Thad calls it the Man in the Maze. He said there’s an identical one across the island, only that one has a woman instead of a man.”
“There is.”
“So what do they mean?”
“Who knows?” Natalie yawned. “Maybe someone had a lot of time on their hands.”
“But the carvings are so precise, they must be here for a reason,” I insisted. “Maybe someone was trying to leave us a clue. Maybe Nil is the maze, and the carvings tell us how to escape.”
Natalie looked thoughtful. “It’s a nice thought, but I don’t see how.”
“I don’t either, but I think the carvings are important. I just don’t know why.” I’m missing something, I thought. But what?
The night breeze wafted in, making me shiver. I missed being warm at night, which made me think of Thad and our kiss by the fire. Nothing missing there.
“So when you get home, what’s the thing you’ll miss most about Nil?”
“Nothing.” Natalie’s voice was flat.
“Really? Nothing? What about the sunsets, the black sand beaches? The coconut soap?” I joked.
“Nope. I’m over it. The stress, the running. The merry-go-round of noon. I’ve seen too much death, too many noons. All I’ll miss is the people, but if you think about it, that’s not really Nil.”
“I guess,” I lied. Because for me, the people were Nil. I realized that even though we shared this hut, Natalie was in a different place—one I hoped I’d never see.
We stopped talking as Natalie dozed off.
I curled into a ball under the thin covers, trying to get warm.
Despite the moonlight, darkness crept in, cold and complete, like the dying whisper of a gate.
But it was the darkness in my head that was the hardest to shake.
For the first time, the darkness had a name. It was the daywatch.
Thad had seventy-five days.