Page 136 of Pretty Nightmare

I sleep for a very long time.

And when I wake up, all the beds around me are empty. Stripped down to the bare mattress like it’s sheet-changing day. Only there are no kids in here either.

It’s just me.

Donovan never comes back. So neither does Carter.

I’m glad Carter is gone, but I miss Donovan terribly.

And even though I didn’t like the other kids, I miss them.

And then I think about the little blond-blond boy and miss him too. He got out. He got away, just like he said he would.

Why didn’t he take me with him?

“Indie?” Someone is shaking me. “Indie, can you hear me?”

These words are very soft.

And then I smile. Because I recognize his voice. “You came back.”

“I came back.” He pulls me up into him and that’s when I realize he’s not a little boy.

He’s Nathan. My Nathan.

I open my eyes and almost scream, but his hand covers my mouth to stop it. “Shh,” he says. “Carter’s here.”

I shake my head quick and fast, say, “No,” into his tight palm.

“Carter. Is. Here.” Nathan stares down into my eyes.

I grip his hand and pull it off my mouth with such force, I take him by surprise. “You’re dead!” I hiss.

“I’m not dead.”

“I killed you!”

“You didn’t kill me. McKay saved me.”

“What?”

He cups his hand over my mouth again. “Shhhhhhhhhhhh! Carter is here, Indie. He came for you. But I’m not gonna let him get you. Not this time.”

I pry his hand off one more time. “You left me! You left me there! You left me in the freezing cold river and you got out!”

“I was five years old!”

I feel the tears welling up in my eyes, the pain in my heart as I think about how he got away and I didn’t. About how he had five extra years here—right here! On this very river!—while I was taken and… “Oh, God. You have no idea what they did to me, Nathan. None! Did you know? Did you know it was me, all this time?”

“Indie—”

“Fuck you! Fuck you, Nathan! And then you left again! Where did you go? Where have you been for the last four years?” He looks very sad right now. But I don’t care. “Answer me! Where have you been? What have you been doing? Why are you just coming here now?”

“Shh! For fuck’s sake! You tried to kill me, Indie! If it wasn’t for McKay, who knows? Maybe you’d come back to finish the job!”

“I didn’t—”

“Know? Is that what you’re gonna say? You didn’t know what you were doing when you tried to kill me?”