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

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

iveness. I recoiled, jerking my head away.

etched with anger, his arm still protectively wrapped around Sophia. In that

me, sharp barbs piercing my already shattered heart. I ran until my lungs burned, until the cliffside faded

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

with an approaching storm. Thunder rumbled in the distance, a low, ominous growl. Panic seize

ind racing. I had t

grew louder, closer. Rain began to fall, fine and cold at first, then quickly escalating in

in cavern. Leo and Sophia were there, huddled near the en

ce tight with frustration, spotting me.

asped, the rain plaste

m during a storm because you were lost? Clara,

ning a desperate edge. "I needed to ge

n boiling over. "You're nineteen! You can't just run o

words tearing from my throat, raw and painful. "

ed about you! Just like I'm worried about Sophia! You t

things I'd seen on his phone. It h

hined, clinging to his arm, shivering drama

his eyes were still on me, filled wit

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

ring crack of thunder. The single flashlight we had, perched on a rock, clattered

My hand reached out instinctively to find him in the blackness, but she t

he rough stone tearing at my skin. A sharp pain shot through my head as I hit something hard. My vision swam with black s

n. In the dark, in the storm, in the rising tide. It wa

te, but it was swallowed by the roar of

e sound of his voice, but I couldn't make out the wo

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

sobs, her voice pleading with him. His fear, hi

shifted, moving away from me. He was leaving. Disappearing into the driving rai