Page 99 of Diluted Truths

We all knew that.

Griffin and Joey were both gone for five days. If the pattern remained the same, she would be home today. I had to hope the pattern would remain the same.

Sarah nodded. “What do we do now? Just wait?”

“No. We can’t sit around doing nothing. We have to search for her in some way,” Kai argued.

“I agree. We don’t stop looking, researching, questioning, until we find her. Until we know she’s safe,” I responded in earnest and with confidence.

“What if we don’t?” Fai asked.

I tilted my head, urging him to continue.

“What if we don’t find her? What if she isn’t safe? What if she doesn’t come home?” he asked in nearly a whisper.

It was a possibility none of us wanted to entertain. I just looked at him. I had no response.

Luckily, Kai did. “I won’t lose another sibling. We’ll find her. We have to.”

Chapter 28Dead to Me by. Tribal Blood

Jackie

Time is relative. Truth is relative.

Missing for Four Days

Icouldn’t figure out where I was. One moment I was in my apartment with Griffin, scared out of my mind. The next moment, I was in the woods alone. They were familiar, the ones from my nightmares.

I could only assume I was in another one of my nightmares. Griffin must have knocked me unconscious.

For the first time, it was day time. I couldn’t see the sun, and the tree cover blocked my view from the sky, but the light filtering through the trees made it obvious.

“Damn it.” I muttered.

I looked down.

Once again, I had no shoes on. I guess it didn’t matter. It was just a dream, but it still bothered me for some reason.

I started my journey through the trees, following the same path I had followed many times now in my dreams. It was helpful that I could remember this time. I did my best to avoid the sticks and rocks that littered the ground. Even if it was a dream, it still hurt when I stepped on them.

After what felt like hours of walking, I entered into the clearing that I had become familiar with. It was beautiful in the daytime. Green grass stretched wide, with random flowers poking through. It was overcast, as usual for Oregon, and slightly drizzling. I smiled to myself as I made my way towards the familiar cabin.

This was my favorite weather.

I knew deep down that I should be more concerned with whatever Griffin was doing to me, but I felt safe here in my own mind.

In my dream.

As I approached the cabin, I noticed that yet again there was no door. I circled around a few times, trying to see if I could find a way in, with no such luck. The usual lights that filtered out were also not visible. Maybe it was the daylight that kept me from seeing them.

I headed towards the hill at the back of the cabin and took a seat where Nate and I sat just the night before, side by side. Leaning back, I looked up at the clouds.

It was really a beautiful day.

Slowly I drifted off to sleep.

I would have to face the reality of whatever happened with Griffin, what he had done to me, but for the time being I found an odd sense of calm.