Chapter 31Light flickers and dims inside me, fading into obscured blackness.
In a dirty pane of glass, the wraithlike image of a shadow blurs like a stock-still photograph disappearing with age, time, memory.
I see my face staring back at me. I touch the cold glass. I hear a snicker behind me, in the dark. I am too scared to ask, but I do anyway, “What do you want?”
More laughter. Heckling.
“Who are you?”
No answer.
Wind whistles through the woods.
A salty smell wafts like decaying breath in my face. I close my eyes to the gentle tapping on my shoulder.
Turn around. Look at me.
“Why?” My voice is tired and heavy, lethargic. I sound drunk, sleepy like I have woken from a dream. But it does not feel like a dream. It is real.
The ragged voice quells. The laughter stops, replaced wit
