Chapter 25

A tunnel. Long. Dark. Inviting.

And Jenna is there.

Her smile is slow. Understanding. She's been waiting. She holds her hand out, and I take it; we walk. For miles and miles we walk in the dark.

"Where's Kara?" she asks.

"Shhh," I tell her. "Sleeping."

Jenna knows I'm lying, but she understands. She knows I need this quiet moment with her.

I pause now and then just to look at her. She is so beautiful. More than beautiful. Innocent. Calm. My mother would like her.

"What shall we talk about today?" she asks.

"The sky. Describe the sky for me, Jenna."

"It's blue, Locke. You remember that, don't you? The color of my eyes. Look into my eyes, and you will see the sky."

I look and I see an ocean, a field of irises, and warm raindrops. I see a paint box of cerulean, aquamarine, and cobalt. I see robin eggs, breezes, and freedom. I see a wide open sky, the sky I had forgotten.

"I love you, Jenna. I've always loved you."

"I know," she says.

I reach out to touch her face, and a scream shatters the quiet.

I look back over my shoulder. "I have to go."

She nods, and our fingers unlace so slowly that I am certain some part of me has been left behind on her fingertips.