I can’t catch my breath I’m crying so hard.
Vane gave in to her.
He gave in to her?!
I run through the woods. I don’t know which direction I’m going but it doesn’t matter. Vane gave in to Winnie and the look on his face—
I didn’t mean to spy. I spy a lot, but I didn’t mean to spy on them. I was looking for Vane and then I heard him and when I stumbled through the woods and saw them—
The tears come fast, streaming down my face.
All of the years I’ve been in the house and I’ve tried everything and I even caught the shadow and thought—
I come to a stop on the road, the one that leads between Darlington Port and the house. I look down at my arm, at the cut now crusted over with dried blood.
I caught the shadow. I have that dark, dangerous shadow trapped in my room.
And if a Darling girl were to stumble in there—
Okay, no, I can’t do that.
That would be wrong.
Vane’s face flashes through my mind as he fucked Winnie against that tree. He was enjoying it. She has him wrapped around her finger now. He’s never going to give in to me if she’s around.
Hands balled into fists, I yell at the sky. “This is all so fucking stupid!”
But it feels like my insides are trying to crawl up my throat. My stomach is in knots and my eyes are burning and my throat is clogged and—
Vane is supposed to be mine.
And Winnie was supposed to go back to her world and stay there.
I don’t believe in coincidences.
I dry my eyes on the sleeve of my shirt and make my way back to the house.
Maybe the universe gave me the shadow for a reason.
Maybe I’m supposed to use it after all.
