Chapter 34
Jillian
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A sudden flare of blinding light erupted in the distance.
Jillian spun toward it, her hand clawing into the suffocating darkness. Her fingers searched frantically, reaching for Moe and found empty air.
A deep sob rolled out of her, leaving her hollow.
He was gone.
"I love you," she whispered, the words barely surviving the silence.
The veil convulsed, coiling around her like a living thing, crushing her ribs until every breath became agony. Panic ripped through her as invisible forces seized her body, wrenching her forward. Her knees gave way. Pain exploded through her as she was dragged into the void.
With the last shred of air left in her lungs, she screamed Moe's name.
Then, instantly, her feet slammed onto something solid.
She hit the ground hard, catching herself on trembling hands as the world lurched violently around her. The earth seemed to tilt beneath her, her vision swimming until she could no longer tell where the horizon ended and the storm began. Her stomach churned.
"Where..." Her voice broke. "Where is he?"
Thunder exploded overhead, shaking the air. Forks of lightning ripped across the sky, illuminating the world in violent flashes before plunging it back into darkness. The wind howled with feral rage, tearing at her hair, her clothes, clawing at her skin.
She barely felt it.
"Moe!" Her scream vanished into the storm.
No one answered.
Only the relentless roar of the wind and the vast, unbearable emptiness where he should have been.
Her chest tightened until every breath burned. She forced herself upright, her legs quivering so violently she nearly collapsed again. Panic surged through her, cold and suffocating, drowning every rational thought.
"Please," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. "Please don't be gone."
Lightning flashed again.
For the briefest instant, a solitary figure stood against the storm.
Then the darkness swallowed it.
Jillian froze.
Hope ignited inside her with such violent force it hurt. She stumbled forward, one shaking hand reaching into the rain as if she could pull the figure back from the night.
"Moe?" she whispered.
The wind stole his name before it could travel. She squinted into the darkness.
Lightning split the heavens. For a heartbeat, the world blazed white.
A body lay sprawled across the soaked earth.
Motionless.
Face down.
Jillian's heart seemed to stop. "No..."
The darkness returned, but the image had already seared itself into her mind.
Another flash. This time she recognized the shirt. The broad shoulders. The familiar shape she would've known anywhere.
"Moe." His name escaped as little more than a breath.
She sprinted toward him, every step impossibly slow and clumsy, as though the storm itself was trying to keep them apart.
Jillian dropped beside Moe, her knees hitting the ground hard. Rain lashed across them as she gripped his shoulders and shook him.
"Moe... please. Wake up."
His body rolled limply beneath her hands. A sob caught in her throat.
She eased him onto his back, brushing mud and rain from his face. Lightning split the sky, revealing bruises already darkening his skin, lips drained of color, lashes motionless against his cheeks.
"No, God, no, no, no." She leaned over him until her forehead rested against his. "I'm here. Please don't leave me."
For one endless heartbeat, there was nothing.
Then his chest hitched.
A ragged gasp tore through the silence.
She lifted her head. "Moe?"
His eyelids fluttered. His gaze wandered through the storm before finally settling on her, as though he couldn't quite believe she was real.
"You..." His voice scraped against his throat. "You made it."
She laughed through a sob, running her hand over his abused face.
"You're okay?" His cold fingertips pressed against her cheek.
She nodded, pressing into his touch.
"I thought..." He coughed and groaned. "I thought I lost you."
She covered his hand with hers and held it there. "You didn't."
He pulled her into his arms with what little strength he had. She buried her face against his chest, clinging to him as if the storm itself might tear them apart again. His heartbeat hammered beneath her ear, uneven, but alive.
"We made it," she whispered.
His embrace loosened. She looked up.
His gaze drifted past her, scanning the trees bending beneath the wind, the black sky split by lightning, the soaked earth stretching endlessly around them. She studied him as another flash illuminated the landscape.
The same trees lining the road.
The same endless storm.
The same suffocating darkness pressing in from every side.
Disbelief robbed her of her joy. "No..."
Moe pushed himself unsteadily to his feet and reached down for her. She took his hand, rising on legs that threatened to buckle.
This couldn't be happening.
"Tell me we're through it," she said.
"We didn't make it." His jaw tightened. "We're still in Everstill."
He closed his eyes for a moment before pulling her against him once more, holding her as though refusing to let the world steal her again.
The wind screamed through the trees.
Rain pounded the earth.
Neither of them moved.
"What do we do now?" she whispered into his chest.
He rested his chin against her hair. "We love each other."
He was right. They'd promised their lives to each other, whether they made it through or not. She knew the risks.
She held him a little tighter. "Together. Until the next time the veil shows up, right?"
"Yeah."
Jillian closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him with everything she had left. "God, baby. I couldn't hold on to you. The darkness—"
"Sh. I know." His answer came without hesitation. "Neither could I. But we're together. The motherfucker can't keep us apart."
A moan floated over the wind. The hair on her arms stood.
"Moe, do you hear that?" she asked.
A sudden flash of light burst through the storm, bright enough to blind her for a heartbeat. The air split with a violent crack.
She grabbed Moe's arm. "Something's happening!"
The veil shimmered in front of them, warping the distance. Her stomach twisted, terrified it would pull him away from her again. She grabbed Moe tighter.
Two figures slammed into the ground a few yards away, thrown from the veil like it had spit them out. Jillian screamed.
Moe held her tighter. Her breath caught painfully in her chest.
The storm eased just enough for her to see a tall figure curled around a smaller person, both of them coughing and gasping. Recognition jolted her. She turned to Moe, seeing that he too recognized them.
"No, it can't be." He shook his head in disbelief.
The smaller figure lifted her head. Her hair was plastered to her face by rain. Familiar eyes locked onto Jillian.
Moe staggered, swaying in disbelief. Jillian's ears roared as she stared dumbly in front of her.
"What the fuck is going on?" Moe moved forward, taking Jillian's hand.
Kallie crawled toward Finn, reaching for him. The two of them clung to each other in a way Jillian understood. She still wasn't letting go of Moe.
Moe helped both of them to their feet. "What happened?"
Jillian reached out and squeezed Kallie's hand. The fear in the girl's face, having returned to Everstill, put her in shock.
Finn looked around wildly, his voice breaking. "No, this isn't right."
Jillian understood his anguish, the horror of realizing he'd been pulled back. She whispered, "The veil... it brought you back."
Kallie clung to Finn. "It grabbed us. It pulled us in."
Jillian's stomach dropped. The truth settled like ice in her veins.
"We tried to leave," she said.
Moe cleared his throat. "It rejected us."
The rain dripped down his hair, his jaw set with frustration. Jillian slipped her hand back into his.
Moe said quietly, "We didn't make it through."
"Maybe there's a glitch." Finn looked at Moe, his voice raw. "Or it won't let anyone leave anymore."
Turning, she looked up into Moe's eyes. "My mom..."
Moe's expression softened. He brushed a raindrop, or maybe it was a tear, from her cheek. "We're still together. We'll figure it out."
She leaned into him. Now was not the right time to think about the consequences of staying in Everstill.
Finn and Kallie stood close, shivering, their eyes fixed on the storm that had betrayed them. The weight of their return was the final proof they needed that Everstill wasn't done with any of them.
Moe wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close as the wind died.
When they could no longer sense the veil close by, all four of them turned toward town and found Copper standing on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.
Surrounded by Moe on her right and Kallie on her left, Jillian was able to breathe again. Everstill was the last place she wanted to be, but she had Moe. Plus, now there was another female in town. It didn't make things better, but it brought her comfort.
They approached Copper and stopped. The older man appeared unruffled by the storm.
"Was that a glitch?" Moe asked.
Copper remained on the sidewalk. He was neither ruffled by the storm nor surprised to see that Moe and Jillian didn't make it, and instead Finn and Kallie showed up.
"You could say that." Copper exhaled slowly. "Everstill is no longer what it was meant to be."
Jillian frowned. "What does that mean?"
"It's broken," Copper said. "There are failures. Glitches. It has changed. Everstill thinks for itself now."
Finn went still. Kallie tightened her grip on his arm. Jillian looked away from them and turned her attention to Moe, who'd gone stiff beside her.
"How do you know?" Moe said.
Copper looked down. "Because I'm the only one who survived the last change."
"What change?" Moe held Jillian's hand tighter.
"Everstill was never supposed to wake up." Copper rubbed his chin. "They programmed it to be safe. We were all supposed to be safe."
"Were you involved in how we came here?" Moe stepped closer.
Copper hesitated. "Yes. I was part of the original team."
Finn stared at him. "I'll fucking kill you."
"Get in line," muttered Moe.
Jillian stayed quiet. He wasn't going to hurt anyone. He was exhausted. Going through the veil, getting spit out, had almost killed him.
"There were scientists. Behavioral specialists.
They were building a contained town. A replica of society.
A place to study the worst men they could find.
Men they believed couldn't be redeemed. Men who were broken and soulless and unable to be free.
" Copper talked fast, as if he'd waited a long time to tell his story.
Jillian gasped. "Who would do that?"
"I was never told who was backing the program." Copper cleared his throat. "I came on as one of the specialists who would oversee the men and make sure the program was running the way they planned."
"What happened to the others?" Moe asked.
Copper's face darkened. "They died when Everstill changed. There's a dark force that at one time the others could control. But now, no one can control the veil."
Jillian looked at him. "You said the veil wasn't supposed to bring anyone through."
"It wasn't."
Copper's gaze moved to Kallie. "Everything changed when she arrived."
"Me?" Kallie sidestepped closer to Finn.
Copper nodded. "You showed Finn something Everstill wasn't designed to understand. That he was capable of love. That he was worth saving."
Finn pulled Kallie closer. "This is bullshit."
"Everstill was built around routine, not punishment," Copper continued. "Not redemption. Not forgiveness. Not love."
Copper's gaze shifted to Jillian. "It isn't rejecting you."
Moe's hand found hers. She held her breath.
"It's holding you here."
"I don't understand. Why me?" she whispered.
Copper's voice softened. "Because you're part of the change now. All of you."
Moe scowled. "What makes you think that?"
Copper gazed into the distance. "Because Everstill is waking up... and it needs us all."