The Secret 00.5 The Prelude of Ella and Micha (11 page)

Ella

The morning after Micha talked me down from the bridge, I wake up in my bed with the soft scent of his cologne filling my heart. I’m wearing his T-shirt, and my hair smells like rain.

“What happened?” I mutter as I sit up, running my fingers through my tangled hair. My entire body aches almost as much as my soul. “Something happened last night. Something’s different.”

Faint memories of a breathtaking kiss surface along with the haunting image of a bridge. Then a much darker, hazier image emerges.
Me in a car. Warmth. Fear.
So much fear that it makes me feel terrified right now. Fogginess fills my head, yet somehow, my vision is crystal clear. I know what I have to do to survive.

I need to leave everything behind.

This house.

My dad.

This town.

Micha.

Shaking thoughts of my best friend from my mind, I drag my ass out of bed and rush to pack some clothes into my duffel bag along with my sketchbook. I leave most of my stuff behind, not wanting to take anything that will remind me of myself on this journey.

I also grab my acceptance letter from underneath my pillow and scrounge the house for what cash I can find, adding it to my own pile. It’s not much, but it’ll get me a bus ticket to Vegas and a new start.

I don’t tell my father good-bye before I leave the house. I don’t want to see the hurt in his eyes anymore—hurt him more.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I hike down the driveway toward the street. The sun is rising, the sky painting the land an orange pink. It’s my final sunrise in this town, my final everything of this life.

As I reach the end of the concrete, I pause to glance back at Micha’s house. A small part of me begs to go there, whispers that I’m leaving the love of my life behind.

“I’m sorry for breaking our pact,” I whisper as I turn away. “But it’s for the best that you stay away from me; otherwise, I’ll ruin you, too.”

The aching still remains, though, even when I head down the sidewalk and away from the sunrise, leaving it all behind just like my mother did. Through the pain, I keep going, telling myself it’s for the best.

If Micha really is the love of my life, I’m doing him a huge favor.

The best thing I can do for him and everyone else, including myself, is leave.

They’re much better off without me.

Micha

After I get out of the shower, I tug a clean shirt over my head then grab my car keys and wallet. I spent last night at Ella’s house but barely got any sleep, too riled up and worried to shut my eyes. Before the sun started to come up, I snuck over to my house to clean last night’s rainstorm—and memories—off me. But I’m ready to get back to her, worried to leave her for more than a few minutes.

I grab extra clothes to take with me. Last night, I made a promise to myself that I was going to stick by her side until we got through this. She’s not going to be alone in that home. She’s going to know that she’s loved. By me.

After tossing the extra clothes and my cologne into a bag, I race out of the house and across the driveway. When I reach the fence line, I pause. Something feels off. Different. Wrong.

I glance around at Ella’s house, my house, the yards, the sleeping neighborhood. Nothing seems out of the ordinary. Perhaps I’m just being paranoid.

As I climb up the tree to get to her window, though, the paranoid feeling only intensifies. When I duck into the room, worry, panic, and fear consumes me.

Her bed is empty.

“No.” I run through the house in a panic but can’t find her anywhere.

I call her phone. Nothing. Go back to her room, but she’s still not there.

The closer I look, the more I realize that she might not be coming back. Some of her stuff is gone. Clothes are scattered everywhere. The duffel bag in her closet isn’t there. And her sketchbook is missing

It hits me like a blow to the chest, cutting so deeply, I think my heart actually cracks.

I fight to breathe.

Ella is gone.

Without me.

And she might not be coming back.

Jessica Sorensen is a
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author that lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she's not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.

Other books by Jessica Sorensen:

The Coincidence Series:

     The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden

     The Redemption of Callie and Kayden

     The Destiny of Violet and Luke

     The Probabilty of Violet and Luke

     The Certainty of Violet and Luke

     The Resolution of Callie and Kayden

     Unbeautiful (Coming Soon)

     Seth & Grayson (Coming Soon)

The Secret Series:

     The Prelude of Ella and Micha (Coming Soon)

     The Secret of Ella and Micha

     The Forever of Ella and Micha

     The Temptation of Lila and Ethan

     The Ever After of Ella and Micha

     Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always

     Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always (Coming Soon)

The Shattered Promises Series:

     Shattered Promises

     Fractured Souls

     Unbroken

     Broken Visions

     Scattered Ashes (Coming Soon)

Breaking Nova Series:

     Breaking Nova

     Saving Quinton

     Delilah: The Making of Red

     Nova and Quinton: No Regrets

     Tristan: Finding Hope

     Wreck Me (Coming Soon)

The Fallen Star Series (YA):

     The Fallen Star

     The Underworld

     The Vision

     The Promise

The Fallen Souls Series (spin off from The Fallen Star):

     The Lost Soul

     The Evanescence

The Darkness Falls Series:

     Darkness Falls

     Darkness Breaks

     Darkness Fades

The Death Collectors Series (NA and YA):

     Ember X and Ember

     Cinder X and Cinder

     Spark X and Cinder (Coming Soon)

The Sins Series:

     Seduction & Temptation

     Sins & Secrets

     Lies & Betrayal (Coming Soon)

Standalones

     The Forgotten Girl

Coming Soon:

     Unraveling You

     Entranced

     Steel & Bones

Connect with me online:

jessicasorensen.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jessica-Sorensen/165335743524509

https://twitter.com/#!/jessFallenStar