When I came to, the last thing I remembered hit me all at once.
Heavy clouds. Rain beating the ground like it was angry. That black snake coiled on the tombstone, green eyes fixed on me like it had been waiting.
I shot up from the bed, and pain ripped through my knees so sharp I had to bite back a sound. My hands flew to the mattress for balance.
Then I looked around.
Same room. Same cold air. Same quiet that didn't feel like peace.
Of course it wasn't Lewis.
Hope had been a stupid thing to cling to.
The place had been cleaned, though. The sheets smelled fresh, like someone had tried to erase what happened. My knee had been treated too ointment rubbed in, gauze wrapped tight. Ten hours on my knees in that cemetery had left my body shaking, and someone had taken the time to patch me up like I was a broken tool worth keeping.
Outside, it was night again.
