^{If you missed the first book - Fireflies - you might want to start there. It's here in its completion, written for Steemit. If you enjoy it, feel free to ask to be added to the subscriber list for the sequel, where new chapters are being released daily.}

Entry 27

Opening her eyes, she sat up slowly in bed. The darkness of the early morning enshrouded her, giving her a comforting feeling that her secrets could be kept hidden. A freshness seeped in through her screened window, and she was thankful that the coolness of the morning air hadn't been influenced by the power of the sun just yet. The absence of birdsong indicated that she still had some time alone, before daybreak.

Reaching for the quilt on the edge of the bed, she wrapped herself in the warmth of the material hoping to smooth the goosebumps that had risen on her flesh. Pulling the blanket tighter, she pretended that the chill was from the crisp air. She knew the truth, however - the shivers going up her spine had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with the dark plans germinating inside the secret places of her mind.

Bryd needed it, and Derek didn't deserve it.

She shuddered - wondering if she could live with the consequences of these actions. But what choice was there? Though she preferred the option of attempting it with Caleb, she knew he would never survive it, and really - could she justify taking that from Caleb? He was a better option as a "shell", but he wasn't simply a shell. He was a human being with a life of his own. How had she even come to a place where these things were considerations? Teetering on the edge of becoming exactly like Derek, she held firmly to the belief that she and he were innately different.

He was selfish. She was... well, she could be selfish too, she supposed. He was ruthless. An argument could be made for her ruthlessness as well. He was stubbornly fixated. She was... well, what was the point of this line of thinking anyway! She was different. She knew she was. That's all that mattered.

This was the final day of the trip. She felt guilty knowing how easy it would be to rewrite the last few days. No one would know that Caleb's memories had been altered because Caleb himself would be too embarrassed to admit it. As far as he knew, the final days of this trip had been spent in his own private drunken stupor, and she wasn't going to do anything to dissuade him from that belief. He was a good guy, and it was unfortunate that the outcome of her reckless experiment had come with such a cost, but it was the past.

She wouldn't dwell on it, and he couldn't dwell on it.

^{Thank you to @penderis for making my beautiful dreemgirl divider :)}

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