Darkest Dawn

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“My mom will be back to see him in a few days.” She filled the awkward silence.

He shook his head. “He doesn’t even know she’s there half the time.”

“She likes spending time with him.”

He snorted. “His ability to make people feel guilty deserves an Oscar.”

Kael made it seem like illness was something his dad enjoyed. Although she didn’t know him well enough to know if he was kidding—not that his situation was anything to joke about. Instead, she changed the subject. “You like to swim?” She immediately regretted asking. Obviously he did. For some reason he always put her on edge and not always in a negative way.

A secret smile touched his lips. “I do. It relaxes me.”

She quirked her lips. “Me too.”

He raked a hand through his hair, slicking it back. “I’m glad it was you here instead of the coach.”

Bri flushed. “Why?”

He pressed his lips together briefly before speaking. “Let’s just say I don’t exactly have permission to be here.”

“I won’t tell anyone as long as you keep me screaming like a banshee to yourself.”

He winked at her. “Deal.”

Her breath caught in her throat.

They hovered by the door, but Bri reached for it first.

“Wait.” His hand slammed into it. It came close enough to her face that she could make out each individual hair on his arm.

She whirled around realizing how close his body was to hers. His breathing was labored.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes,” he said firmly.

If it wasn’t for Mom and her stories from Mr. Theron, she might have been afraid of his outburst. Most people in town were. He was portrayed as a “lost soul” by his father.

“I need to meet my friend,” she prompted, pointing at his arm.

“Be careful okay?” His jaw clenched. “Make sure you go straight home.”

“Okay,” Bri said, dragging the word out. Why was he being so weird?

He removed his hand from the door. “Some might take advantage of a girl who’s home alone.”

Bri hesitated but Kael didn’t meet her eye.

She grabbed the handle and pulled, the cool hallway air blasting over her face. She pushed the door open for Kael as black spots filled her vision.

“Brianna?”

She turned around, looking up at Kael. His eyes were pulled down at the corners with worry.

She took a deep breath, recovering quickly. “I’m fine. I need to eat something.” Her phone buzzed from her backpack. She’d had it on silent since the morning, as she didn’t want to give any teachers an excuse to take it away. She pulled out her phone. Several texts from Mom littered the screen. She’d arrived at the conference and would call later.

She exhaled deeply and tossed a quick wave to Kael before leaving the natatorium. The door closed behind her and she took a few more deep breaths before heading down the hallway, letting go of the strangest ten minutes of her life. Her nerves must have had the better of her. She’d probably heard Kael splashing around in the pool, which had freaked her out since Coach rarely let anyone in the natatorium unsupervised. With Mr. Theron’s clout in town, Bri doubted Coach could say anything to stop Kael though. And since she’d nearly passed out in the shower, her eyes had probably being playing tricks on her.

The room whirled around her again and she leaned against the wall for support. She took out a granola bar from her bag—she always had food handy, especially after the amount of calories she burned at practice. She unwrapped it and took a few bites until she felt somewhat normal.

She turned the corner and stopped.

She blinked a few times but the image at the end of the hallway didn’t go away. Brianna Taylor couldn’t take her eyes off a mirror image of herself standing at the opposite end of the hallway. The only difference was that the mirror image was dressed differently. The out of body experience made her stomach roll and the edges of her vision blur.

CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_b12c5615-9b61-5cc4-9e5b-7a128949ac69)

Sloane

I couldn’t believe I survived the rest of the day cooped up in a cubby at the back of the library. Not once did anyone come back and find me. I spent the first hour wondering what had gone wrong and imagining the possibilities. Had this person changed their mind? I couldn’t imagine anyone I knew able to pull off an elaborate prank like this. The back of the cafeteria was the meeting place he or she had requested. Maybe something happened to the person who summoned me. Hopefully nothing bad. I wished he or she had included a cell phone number or something.

I pressed my hands on both sides of my head, attempting to calm my thoughts. If this person found me in Manhattan, he or she would be able to find me in Willows Lake. At the very least they could leave a note at the motel. The fear of running into that guy again made me stay put. I jumped at each bell signaling the change in classes. I glanced over my shoulder every few minutes to make sure I hadn’t been caught. I wondered if I’d be in even more trouble because of breaking into the school. I thought of the excuses I’d make: “Well technically I didn’t break in since the door was open.” An excuse I was sure the principal or whatever disciplinarian caught me wouldn’t appreciate.

I tucked my chair further into the cubby and took out my phone. I’d had it turned off from the second I entered the library. There wasn’t a plug anywhere near my hiding spot. I didn’t want to risk losing my charge. I flipped the mute button and turned the phone on. A few messages came in from Amber wanting an update.

I quickly texted her back, promising to call her with details later. She assured me that my dad hadn’t called her house yet.

My shoulders slumped. Dad knew I wasn’t supposed to be on my phone during school hours. That didn’t mean I wouldn’t hear from him later. I’d have to connect with Amber and coordinate our stories.

I carefully took the letter from my pocket and reread it, trying to figure out if or where I’d gone wrong. My mind wandered to the other two confrontations I’d had since I arrived. They weren’t from the mysterious letter writer but they had something equally strange in common. How had they mistaken me for someone else? And if Jake liked this “Bri” girl so much, why would he think I was her? Unless we looked alike?

My hands froze around the phone. A silly idea popped in my head and before I could dismiss it, my fingers were already moving across the screen. I opened the browser on my phone and went to Google, typing in a few search items. “Bri” and “Willows Lake”. I knew it was a long shot, and after reading the first few pages of results I knew I had been correct. I contemplated other search terms when I found an article from the previous year. The blurb highlighted a girl named Brianna Taylor from Willows Lake taking first place in a swim meet. The girl in the bathroom mentioned something about swim practice. I clicked on the article.

I didn’t know what to expect. Maybe a picture of Bri or some clue why two people thought I was her. Instead there was only an image of a swimming pool. I scrolled through the article. No photo. At least I had a full name. I went back and typed the keywords “Brianna Taylor” and “Willows Lake”. Articles from the town’s small press came up about Brianna. With each one I held my breath, expecting to see a picture. It only took a few articles to find one.

My breath caught in my throat as I zoomed in on the photo. It was grainy but unmistakable.

“No frickin’ way.” I didn’t care if anyone heard me. I could always pretend to be the girl who others had mistaken me for.

It would be easy.

She looked exactly like me. From my slightly long nose ending at a point to my oval-shaped face. I couldn’t tell the most unique factor from the picture. If she had two different-colored eyes, it would seal the deal. I brought the screen closer to my face, bringing the impossible to light.

A loud voice boomed across the room and I gasped, dropping my phone on the table. The voice on the intercom made announcements about an upcoming school dance, and a delayed meeting time for the chess club. My blood ran cold as the man read off stats from the most recent swimming meet, giving me the second craziest idea since I’d made the decision to come to Willows Lake.

I’d never believed in fate, especially after the accident, but I couldn’t think of another word for it. Had the person who summoned me to Willows Lake known about Bri? Had she been the one to find out more answers about the accident? If there was a scandal, she would probably try to keep her identity from me. I knew I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen her face for myself.

At the front of library, the kids were shuffling around. I hesitated, going back and forth on my decision. I could go back to the motel and hope that someone would make contact. Or I could take initiative. What harm could a detour do? If it wasn’t her then the person could wait a little while, since he or she had sent me on a wild chase. Maybe Bri would have some answers. It seemed to be the best option at the moment.

When I reached the hallway, I lifted the hood of my sweatshirt over my head to keep my identity hidden. I didn’t need another one of Bri’s friends to mistake me for her. Or for that other guy to find me. I was on a new mission now and like hell would anyone stop me. I asked a younger student waiting outside a classroom where the pool was. He was a little too eager to reply. I assumed he didn’t have much contact with girls. I followed his instructions, leaving through the back door of the building and following the parking lot to the annex building.

***

I entered the one-floor faded brown brick structure. I vigorously wiped my wet sneakers on one of the thick mats inside the main entrance. I didn’t want to slip on them again in case I ran into that guy.

Across the hall was an open door and as I neared it, the sounds of sneakers and dribbling basketballs grew louder. A man shouted something. I couldn’t make out his words among the other sounds. I peered into the gym, watching the dozen or so guys move across the court. Half of them wore netted vests and were doing drills in pairs. An otherwise conventional practice session.

My gaze fell on a familiar face. Jake, from the diner, knocked the ball away from one of his teammates and he dribbled the ball at breakneck speed up the court. Toward me.

I cleared the doorway and pressed my back against the wall, my heart hammering in my chest. A ragged breath parted my dry lips. If I didn’t know any better I’d think he was stalking me.

Even though you’re at his school.

I headed in the opposite direction. I didn’t want to pass by the open doors for fear of being recognized so I traveled along the corridor until I reached the empty outer hallway of the building. The dribbling basketballs faded as I traveled further from the gym. I tested the bottom of my shoes; they were dry enough. I jogged down the hallway until I reached another corridor. This time I peered down it to make sure there weren’t any other openings to the gym. One close call had been enough.

A placard for the natatorium was plastered to the wall in front of me next to a windowless door.

I strode up to the door and placed a clammy hand on the surface. A whooshing sound in my ears stopped me and I stumbled backward. The same sick feeling rolled around in my stomach as earlier. My vision blurred momentarily before catching a sign for the girls’ locker room. I staggered down the hall and pushed through the doors. A large windowless room opened up around me with rows of lockers against the walls. I shuffled past the benches covered with strewn clothes and bags across the room to a small enclave with a bank of sinks and toilets.

I turned on the closest sink and cupped my hands under the cold water. Immediately the frigid temperature shocked me back to reality and I splashed water on my face. I drew in deep breaths until my racing heart calmed to a somewhat normal rhythm. I stared at my pale face in the mirror, resembling a drowned rat more than a girl. My stomach revolted, growling at me from deep within my abdomen. I swallowed a few times. The last thing I needed was to get sick when I was so close.

I opened one of the stalls and sat on the toilet, giving my jelly legs a moment to get back to their normal strength. The porcelain seat was the cleanest I’d ever seen at a school. The residual dizziness faded. I pulled my damp hair away from my flushed skin and into a bun at the top of my head. I’d come here with a specific goal and I needed to get back on track. After a few more minutes of calm breathing, I tested my legs.

The echo of a door slamming made my already fragile heart skip a beat. Girls’ voices floated across the space, bouncing off the empty locker room. It wouldn’t be empty for long.

I didn’t have a chance at getting out of there without someone seeing me, so I closed the stall door and locked it before standing on the toilet. After five minutes of keeping still while listening to the girls talk about dates to some event and gossip about other girls in school, I wondered if I should have risked leaving when I had the chance. One girl even tried the stall I was in, pushing it hard enough to almost move the flimsy lock from its place before giving up. I counted the seconds through my quickening breaths and soon enough the pack of girls left in one noisy group.

I gave the stragglers a few seconds to clear out before I stepped down from the toilet.

I took a breath, opened the door, and bolted for the entrance of the locker room. I didn’t stop, even when some girl cried out when I knocked her purse to the floor.

The hallway was cooler and I sucked in deep breaths when the dizziness returned with a vengeance. I stopped and leaned against the wall, terrified of what might happen next. I knew I shouldn’t be out in the open for fear of someone thinking I was Bri but my legs were solid blocks on the floor. A bead of sweat traveled across my hairline and dropped like an icicle on a hot day.

The ceiling lights buzzed and crackled. I lifted my gaze to them. They were flickering wildly. The ceiling moved in a slow circle above my head. My mind put it together that this wasn’t right. Someone at the end of the hallway caught my attention. The person’s body blurred as I tried to focus on him or her. My eyelids drooped as I fought to stay conscious. My legs propelled me forward even though my head wanted everything around me to stop. As I neared the person it was as if I’d entered a carnival mirror room. In front of me was me. I cocked my head to the side and tried to focus on me.

As much as my brain was fuzzy, I knew I wasn’t looking into a mirror. I’d found Bri. I didn’t need to wonder if she felt the same way as she staggered toward me. We were both jelly-legged yet pulled together by the same strange force. The lights continued to flicker and the buzzing intensified. Then as suddenly as the buzzing started, my hearing turned inward as if the world had swallowed all sound. I couldn’t take my gaze from her eyes. Both of them were dark green, matching my left eye.

Mom’s face flashed before my eyes. The look of horror as she fought for control of the wheel. She turned in her seat and her face was my face. The face of the girl in front of me.

I grounded myself in the present and reached for the girl, needing to touch her. I needed to know that this was real.

And as our fingers brushed all sound returned forcefully. A crack like thunder shook the ground beneath us as I clasped her hand in mine. She returned the grip as something sharp hit my cheek. Her eyes bored into mine and at that distance I saw the faint outline of a contact lens in her left eye. I didn’t need to think about what color would lie under the lens because I knew it was blue. The only physical difference between me and this girl. A warmth spread through my body as if I’d been waiting for this moment my whole life. It was as if I was transported back to the day before Mom died, when the world was right and perfect.