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Chapter 85
Ellie POV
The cafeteria was too loud for what we were doing.
Trays clattered. Chairs scraped. Laughter burst and faded in uneven waves, the normal chaos of lunchtime pressing in from all sides. And yet, sitting across from Abigail, it felt like we were alone inside a glass box, everything else muffled and distant.
She barley agreed to meet me here. She hadn’t taken a single bite of her burger.
She just poked at it, over and over, thumb smearing ketchup into the bun, eyes fixed anywhere but my face. Every time I shifted, her shoulders tightened like she was bracing for impact.
I watched her for a long moment before speaking.
“Thank you for coming.”
She eyes me, glancing me over. “You sound like your about to make a speech.”
I sighed, unsure where to start.
“What did you mean earlier,” I asked finally, carefully, “when you said we shouldn’t be talking?”
Her hand stilled on the burger.
Slowly, she lifted her gaze, just enough to meet mine for half a second before it dropped again.
“Right to the point, huh?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Cryptic wording will do that to you.”
“I really shouldn’t say anything,” she said. Her voice was quiet, but firm.
“That’s not an answer,” I said, my tone sharpening despite myself. “Abigail, whatever this is, it’s important. For us both.”
She pushed her tray away and stood abruptly. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have even sat with you.”
I moved before I thought better of it, stepping into her path and blocking her escape.
“Don’t,” I warned, low. “I know something is up. So I need you to tell me, or I WILL find out.”
Her breath hitched. For a moment, I thought she might bolt anyway. Then her shoulders sagged, all the fight draining out of her like a cord had been cut.
“You wouldn’t believe me,” she said softly. “Even if I told you.”
“Try,” I said, meeting her eyes, searching.
We stood there, the noise of the cafeteria rushing back in around us, before she finally sank back into her seat She staré dyvers at the table like it might swallow her whole.
“I used to know you,” she said at last.
My heart skipped.
“In another life.”
The world tilted.
I didn’t speak I didn’t blink I barely breathed.
“You were
different though,” Abigail continued, words careful, tragale
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revolved around him, your future, your choices, and the way you carried yourself. I was your handmaid. Your confidant. You told me everything. We met when you were older though…but your different here so…maybe it’s okay I tell you.”
My fingers curled into fists beneath the table. Everything clicking into place.
“And then,” she whispered, “one day you were stabbed. Wolfsbane. Right here.” She touched her own abdomen, trembling.” You died in my arms.”
The cafeteria disappeared.
I could see it too vividly. The pain. The cold. The blood soaking into stone. Her face coming back to me.
“When you died,” Abigail said, tears gathering in her eyes, “everything went black for me too. And then I woke up. Younger Back here. Like it never happened. And you were alive.”
Silence swallowed us.
I stared at her, mind roaring, chest tight, every instinct screaming this is impossible-and yet nothing in me rejected it. Because the same thing had happened to me.
Abigail shook her head, misreading my stillness. “See? I told you. I shouldn’t have said anything. We weren’t supposed to meet until
“Until my marriage to Dominic,” I said quietly, the words slipping out like a confession, “a year after your graduation.”
Her head snapped up.
Her eyes went wide.
“You-“Her voice broke. “You remember?”
I nodded once.
The look on her face shattered into something raw and disbelieving, and for a moment neither of us spoke, shock crackling between us like static.
“So…” she whispered, voice trembling now, “you know about-”
“Vivian,” I said flatly. “Betraying me. With Dominic.”
Abigail’s mouth fell open.
“Yes,” I continued, bitterness threading through my calm. “Why do you think I changed?”
She stared at me like she was seeing a ghost.
“Okay,” she breathed. “Okay, wow. But then–why only us? Why are we the only ones who remember? Dominic clearly doesn’ Vivian doesn’t. No one does. Why”
“I don’t know,” I said, the uncertainty burning sharp and cold in my chest.
But beneath it was something stronger.
Resolve And the fact I wasn’t alone.
I lifted my gaze to meet hers, steady and unflinching
“But I intend to find out ”
Sarah appeared like an avalanche, like she always did bright, effortless, and aperte
me
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“Hey,” she said cheerfully. “What are you two whispering about?”
Abigail and I answered at the exact same time.
“Oh-nothing.”
The word echoed wrong the moment it left my mouth.
Sarah laughed lightly, but her eyes flicked between us, searching. For a split second, something faltered in her expression. Not anger, not suspicion, just… hurt. Like she’d walked into a room and realized the conversation had stopped because she’d arrived.
“Oh,” she said, softer now. “Okay.”
She smiled again, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes “Well, also, hi! I’m Sarah! I’m glad Ellie has made a new healer friend! It’s nice to meet you!”
Abigail smiled tight, “Nice to meet you too.”
They talked, chatted easily, but it still felt weird. I had a thousands questions for Abigail, and not that I wanted to kick Sarah out… it’s just I wasn’t ready to tell her the truth yet.
Between classes, Sarah walked beside me, our steps falling into sync the way they always had. Normally, that comforted me. Today, it just made my chest tighten..
My eyes drifting around, trying to find Abigail in the halls.
“You’re really quiet,” she said eventually. “Like… not your usual quiet. More like something’s wrong.”
I adjusted the strap of my bag. “Just tired.”
She hummed, unconvinced. “You’ve been tired for weeks. But the exam is over, so…what’s up?”
I didn’t answer.
She slowed slightly, forcing me to slow too. “Ellie,” she said gently, “you know you can talk to me, right? I can feel it. Something’s off.”
I opened my mouth. Closed it again.
“I’m fine,” I said, the lie thin but practiced. “I just have a lot on my mind. Everything.”
Sarah studied me, worry creasing her brow. “I don’t know what’s going on. You should be relaxing but…whatever it is, you don’t have to carry it alone.”
I nodded, because that was easier than explaining everything.
Then I saw Abigail.
She was halfway down the hall, lavender hair unmistakable, posture tense as it she felt eyes on her even when no ob vá looking.
Something inside me pulled tight.
“Hey,” I said quickly, already stepping away. “1–I have to go”
Sarah blinked. “Go where?”
I didn’t stop to explain. I didn’t slow down. I just offered a rushed, apologeth wave owes may shudders and hongest akan digu
When I glanced back, Sarah was still standing there in the middle of the hall bow clothout tor Bek-Tis t
confusion written plainly across het fare
The look lingered with me long after I turned the corner.
I told myself I’d explain later.
But it didn’t stop the guilt poking my side.
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