I don’t have much to say about today’s writing. I’m coming up on some twists that would definitely be spoilers if I talked about them. So, instead I’ll leave you an excerpt from the book.
Sorrow cuts through my life like daggers. Memories of lost laughter echo in the background of my thoughts. During the day I drag my pencil across the page and the pain leaks out. At night it sits on my chest. Then morning comes and I see Duke’s lopsided smile as he climbs into my bed. Two-year-olds are faster than wild horses and he’s the reason I don’t give up. My precious little boy is the light of my life and my daily path out of the darkness.
My parents are gone and I’m farther from home than I ever wanted to be. Lee’s so happy though. Millie and Travis run him and Bane ragged, but at the end of the day they get to fall into bed together exhausted but in love. I don’t begrudge them their bliss. I just wish it was contagious. Things could be worse, but there’s always room for improvement.
“Blake!” Zooey’s voice cut through my thoughts. “I thought we’d find you out here hiding in the trees. What are you doing? Writing the next great Hemlock novel?”
“Maybe someday,” I laughed and slammed my journal shut.
I smiled at the women who became my best friends after I moved to Hemlock Academy two years ago. What started as a work project to aid in Zoey’s self-produced herbalist manual grew into a mutual affection based on music, annoying brothers, and of course being some of the youngest students at Hemlock Academy. It didn’t take long for Lotus to fall into our circle when she returned from her father’s European business trip. While the rest of the world worked on stepping past what was now just called ‘the tragedies’ the three of us lived in the shadows of the events. Zoey still caught the occasional headache from her injury, Lotus had nightmares about large men dragging her from her bed, and I hovered over Lee like Jeb might sneak through the bathroom window and steal him from me again.
These were the things we couldn’t talk about with the others. The Omega Liberation Front solved the problem and saved the day. Every Tuesday and Sunday we attended chatroom meetings of survivors. Lotus and I were invited because of our proximity to the events. I attended them, because it was the only time I heard Lee say he was okay. Most of the survivors were okay now. They lived their lives and pushed away memories as if they didn’t happen. There was only one memory I couldn’t push away at night, but the past fled from the bright sunlight over Hemlock Academy.
It was time to get down to business, because Zoey’s thick dark trademark Hemlock hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. Her shoulders squared and she looked like Darian when he walked into a pack meeting. I never understood why everyone compared her to Ross. She lacked his gentle nature and tact. She was all bullheaded like the Patriarch and her other Alpha brothers. The man she married better have a steel set of balls, because she’d settle for nothing less. Zoey didn’t hold her punches and I liked that about her.
“Lotus did it!” She grinned as she plopped down on the grass next to me. “The little vixen actually got in contact with The Grim Howlers’ agent and scheduled a conference call for tonight! I can’t believe the operator even put her through.”
Maggie Hemlock Books 