The next few weeks go by painfully slowly at first, and then time seems to drift by quickly, the days like fallen leaves rushing past my outstretched hands, coming faster and faster until I settle into the flow. Autumn's bright crimson reds and tangerine foliage give way to bare grey branches, and the days become shorter and the nights become longer - and darker and colder, in keeping with the coming Winter.
The first frosts arrive in late October, just in time for Halloween. A lot of my peers are excited about some big party happening on the shores of Lake Serpentwood, but after what happened the last time I attended a high school party, I have absolutely no interest in going.
The morning after Hadrian's house party, Rhys and Louis came by my room to check on me, and I lied, telling the
