have sounded in my head
—furious； velvet；
perfect The burning in my chest flared agonizingly。
There had to be some way to quench it。 The pain was growing more and more
intolerable by the second。
I glared at the cliffs and the crashing waves。
Well； why not？ Why not quench it right now？
Jacob had promised me cliff diving； hadn't he？ Just because he was
unavailable； should I have to give up
the distraction I needed so badly—needed even worse because Jacob was out
risking his life？ Risking it；
in essence； for me。 If it weren't for me； Victoria would not be killing people
here just somewhere else；
far away。 If anything happened to Jacob； it would be my fault。 That
realization stabbed deep and had me
jogging back up to the road toward Billy's house； where my truck waited。
I knew my way to the lane that passed closest to the cliffs； but I had to hunt
for the little path that would
take me out to the ledge。 As I followed it； I looked for turns or forks；
knowing that Jake had planned to
take me off the lower outcropping rather than the top； but the path wound in a
thin single line toward the
brink with no options。 I didn't have time to find another way down—the storm
was moving in quickly
now。 The wind was finally beginning to touch me； the clouds pressing closer to
the ground。 Just as I
reached the place where the dirt path fanned out into the stone precipice； the
first drops broke through
and splattered on my face。
It was not hard to convince myself that I didn't have time to search for
another way—I wanted to jump
from the top。 This was the image that had lingere