Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 42637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 213(@200wpm)___ 171(@250wpm)___ 142(@300wpm)
The more I thought about him coming here, the more unease crept up my spine. I pushed it aside. Maybe he’d calm down and feel more at ease once he saw how happy I was.
“This’ll be great. You’ll see,” he said, his tone softening again. “But mostly, I just want to see you. It’s been too long.”
It hadn’t even been two weeks since I left, but I kept that to myself. I let him ramble on about what he was doing, how his work was, and more about him, him, him. Never once did he ask about me. I felt the weight of him coming here settle over me like a blanket I couldn’t escape.
After ten minutes of listening to him basically having a one-sided conversation, I said, “I should go. I still have to finish this sketch before it gets too dark, and I have to start dinner.”
“Of course,” he said easily. “I’ll let you know my travel details tomorrow.”
“Sounds great,” I said in an apathetic tone.
As the line went dead, I let out a breath and rested my head back on the chair, staring at the ceiling. My gaze drifted back to the window, the sky now painted with deep purples and blues as the sun sank lower below the horizon.
I should’ve been excited to see Laszlo, to have a piece of “home” come to this strange and new place. But all I felt was a lingering sense of unease, like his presence would shift something that was growing here. With me. In me.
Shaking off the thought, I grabbed my sketchpad and finished drawing, but just as the sun fully set, something tingled the back of my neck, and I glanced up, staring out into the thickly wooded forest that lined the guesthouse.
I blinked and saw a large shape right at the tree line. My heart raced. I sat up straighter, but when I blinked again, it was gone.
Had I imagined it? I shook my head, feeling like I was losing my mind. I looked at my sketch again and realized what I’d been drawing.
The forest, the setting sun…and an enormous figure hidden in the distance. I tossed the sketchpad aside and stood, pulling the curtains closed, and taking a step back.
I was locked away, but the longer I stared at those closed curtains, the more I felt something—or someone—was on the other side, looking right through them at me.
CHAPTER THREE
CLARA
The village felt different with Laszlo here, and I didn’t like it. Having him here, in this place that felt special and strange in the best ways, was like something shifted in the wrong direction. Laszlo’s presence changed the air.
At first, I thought it was just me overanalyzing the situation, but as we walked the cobbled streets hand-in-hand, I couldn’t shake the weight pressing down on me.
It wasn’t just the growing awkwardness between us—something that I’d felt long before leaving home. It was something else. Something I couldn’t name.
“This place is...quaint,” Laszlo said, glancing around as we passed a row of flower-covered balconies. The tone of his voice said he didn’t like it. He was one of those people who thrived in a bustling city where everyone was shoulder-to-shoulder, trying to rush to get to wherever the hell they were going.
He didn’t sound impressed in the least, not even in awe at the incredible beauty of the thick forests and massive mountains peaking in the distance. But I didn’t comment. Quaint wasn’t a bad thing in the slightest. It was quiet. Peaceful.
At least, it had been until now.
“Quaint is part of its charm,” I finally said softly, offering a small smile even though I was the one feeling irritated now. “It’s not London, but it’s special in its own way.”
He shrugged, his hand tightening around mine in a way that made my skin prickle, and on instinct, I tugged it away and tucked my hands in my pockets.
“I guess. Just seems like there’s not much to do here.”
I held in my smartass response after he spoke. “Try living in the moment,” I offered, hoping to lighten the mood. I didn't want to be pissy while he was here. That sounded miserable.
But even as I said it, I knew it went in one ear and out the other. He clearly wasn’t open to anything positive I had to say.
I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end again, like someone was watching us. I turned my head slightly, scanning the nearby buildings, but the street was empty.
The sun had already set, the streetlights on and illuminating the road and people passing by. But I noticed, for the first time, the villagers seemed hurried. They rushed past as if there was a fire lit under their asses.
“You okay?” Laszlo asked, stopping when he noticed me looking distracted.