She tried to fight Jack’s pull by changing direction several times. The more exhausted she became, however, the more she lost her battle. Moira’s stomach cramped, and she fell to the ground. She barely had the energy to cry out when Jack grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up again.
“I found something,” he said. “I want to show you.”
Something about the way he spoke made Moira’s insides turn to ice. Paralyzing fear chased all rational thought away. “Jack, please don’t hurt me,” she begged.
He marched her forward. “Move.”
Moira’s knees trembled and all she could think about was Adam. Her inner map said that, once again, they were headed away from the shack. Farther from the one person who could help. Think, Moira!
They came to a familiar clearing and she froze. It was the clearing where Adam had seen his ghost the night before. Moira’s eyes fastened onto the axe, still embedded in the tree trunk. With an awful clarity, she knew exactly what Jack had in mind.
She backed up several steps before Jack’s presence slammed her against the tree. Her face pressed against the rough bark. The handle of the axe loomed large in her vision.
“Remember the night you murdered me, Moira? Remember stabbing me in the stomach? I bled. I bled for hours before I died.”
“That’s a lie!” she cried out hoarsely. “I checked your pulse!”
“So briefly, yes. I saw you. I was floating over the whole scene and I saw you. I saw you fighting with Isabella when she freaked out. I wondered who she was at the time. I saw you wiping your fingerprints from the knife.” His presence crushed her from behind. “I. Saw. Everything.”
She felt the pressure of his hand.
“Take it.”
She fought him, but the wooden handle of the axe was in her palm. One harsh jerk and the blade was released from the tree trunk. The axe’s weight pulled her to the ground.
“Now, you get to feel what I felt,” Jack said, turning her around and placing himself between her knees. “This is my justice before I take you with me.”
The axe was in her lap, blade up. In one swift movement, Moira ran her wrist across the blade. She cried out. Another quick movement sliced the inside of her arm. Everything went bright red.
“I will watch you bleed out, like I watched myself bleed out.”
Blood ran down her arm. Moira’s head lolled back and she hit the ground.
Minutes ticked by, maybe seconds. Time no longer mattered. Moira was being pulled away. Jack was again, in her peripheral but holding her close. She tried to pull away from him and felt the stirrings of panic when she couldn’t. In the back of her head, a small glimmer of rational thought burned within her. Her plan. She had to focus on it. Instead of letting the fear of death overtake her, Moira had to stifle it. If I can just take Jack to the point of no return…
They were being pulled forward. A powerful energy passed through them and left her breathless. Jack was suddenly yanked away. His presence registered fury, but only for a split second. He was being pulled in another direction, another place. Innately, Moira knew it was where he needed to go. She felt lighter. The sudden sense of elation was almost overwhelming.
There were people around her. Some of them she recognized, others she didn’t. All of them seemed to be guiding her to a destination. Moira saw her parents and felt a rush of joy. She started forward to embrace them, but they shook their heads, gesturing for her to go back. Confused, she turned away from them.
She was floating over her body.
Chaos. Blood. Adam was screaming for her to come back to him. He had wrapped her bleeding arm in his sweater. Her eyes were open.
Moira teetered on the brink of making an important decision. It’s not your time.
“Moira!’ Adam’s voice, loud and scared. “Don’t you leave me!”
Moira’s consciousness rushed through darkness. Cold air hit her skin. Her body felt heavy and cumbersome. Slivers of light pushed through the cracks of her eyelids and she felt herself being picked up. Pain slammed into her body, hard and final. Darkness claimed her once again.