  &quot;I need a location so Colton can help us.&quot; I sound odd, strained, and my voice is husky and hoarse, hinting at tears I m refusing to shed. I can t deny this is awful, but we need his help. 
  &quot;Oh, goodness, that was quick, and it worked. Clever girl. Yes, location, of course, we re fifteen miles or so from the Hackuuh mountain base, north of Rennington. We head south for a good forty miles from here and we end up meeting Route 10 to Normansville. Is that accurate enough?&quot; He scratches his head and goes back to grabbing the steering wheel with both hands before peering back out into the darkness, illuminated only by our headlights. I shrug at him and turn away to focus on the link.
  Colton, we re fifteen miles or so from the Hackuuh mountain base, north of Rennington. He has us heading south; he says we re forty miles from getting to Route 10 to Normansville. Does t

  &quot;Alora, I believe that might be our escort. This is Route 10.&quot; Doc nudges me lightly, snapping me out of my long weird daydream in which I bludgeoned Carmen to death with Colton s running shoes, before handing them back to him and walking off into the sunset with a flip of my finger, and I sit upright startled to reality. Heart missing a beat and full-on nerves smacking me in the stomach. 
  There s a convoy of headlights heading our way in the now pitch-dark, long road, stretching ahead, dazzling us slightly as they approach, along what seems to be a long empty highway lined with dense trees on either side of us. I hadn t even noticed the change in terrain when we got off the dirt track and got onto an actual road. My insides tighten, tense, and painfully pray it is who it is.
  I lift the veil and link him, in case we re not where they are yet, and this is someone I should 

  &quot;Are you okay, my dear?&quot; Doc s voice waves at me from what seems like a long distance away and I realize how, in my head, I ve drifted into a state of numbness. We re still rumbling along this dark makeshift path, carved through the dense forest, and I was so zoned out in my mind I completely faded to dark. My cheeks are damp with the tears that sprung out of me and I m staring blankly ahead, in a state of disconnect, ahead, like everyone I know suddenly died a horrible death, again, and I had to watch.
  &quot;I can t be one of those ... those ... creatures. They killed everyone in the orphanage.&quot; It s a soft, pitiful whispering tone, and I can t bring myself to look at him. My head so full of confusion, pain, and questions, and I keep picturing Colton s face, his dimpled smile, and those deep dark sexy eyes, and what he s going to think when he finds out … Meadow, the 

&quot;I need a location so Colton can help us.&quot; I sound odd, strained, and my voice is husky and hoarse, hinting at tears I m refusing to shed. I can t deny this is awful, but we need his help. 
  &quot;Oh, goodness, that was quick, and it worked. Clever girl. Yes, location, of course, we re fifteen miles or so from the Hackuuh mountain base, north of Rennington. We head south for a good forty miles from here and we end up meeting Route 10 to Normansville. Is that accurate enough?&quot; He scratches his head and goes back to grabbing the steering wheel with both hands before peering back out into the darkness, illuminated only by our headlights. I shrug at him and turn away to focus on the link.
  Colton, we re fifteen miles or so from the Hackuuh mountain base, north of Rennington. He has us heading south; he says we re forty miles from getting to Route 10 to Normansville. Does that help?
  The directions mean nothing to me as someone who never ventured out of the valley until

chapter 48