Chapter 15

Violet

I began walking, feeling three pair of eyes burning in my back—but I had already made my decision. Whatever was in that box, whatever it had to say, I would deal with it.

I was afraid, petrified—but it had to be done. It was only fair.

About one hour in, nothing had happened yet. So far so good.

I wasn’t completely fine, though. With the others, it took about an hour for the first signs to show, and now that I was past that mark, I felt a tight feeling in my chest. I was mortified of what might come next.

The others kept a close eye on me, as if all three of them were ready to jump in if I couldn’t handle it. I tried to stay relaxed, tried to breathe—but every muscle in my body was tensed, waiting for disaster.

"We're almost halfway," Dylan encouraged. "If we keep up this tempo, we’ll be there in no time."

I nodded, my lips feeling way too dry to even form a sentence. The walk reminded me of the beginning of a bad fever. You knew it was coming, you just didn’t know when.

Then,