Snippet #2681075

Jane hesitated, trying to remember if her mother had any rules regarding alcohol, but Jane was tired -- tired of trying to remember her mother's rules and just generally very in need of sleep. She took the flask and tipped it up to her lips. The liquid hummed on her tongue, almost a burning sensation, but not entirely unpleasant. "Thank you," she said, handing back the flask and enjoying the warm buzzing in her tummy. The unsettled feeling that had been constantly present for the past few months seemed to settle under the alcohol's hum. It felt like a sleeping monster, just waiting to leap out from the shadows and make her body betray her, but Jane wasn't sure in what way. She just knew that's what it would do.

"My mother..." Jane couldn't imagine sending a search party out to find her. Mary had always been firmly, almost ferociously, independent. Jane almost wondered if she might prefer to stay lost in the woods than to hear that her daughter had been talking to people, telling them what they had been doing. Jane couldn't have done anything differently, but would Mary be angry with her? Probably, she thought. Jane licked the tang of brandy from her lips, wondering how to respond. "I'm not sure that that's necessary. I don't want to-"

But Jane jumped as the door opened, her eyes widening at the creature that stood there. His wide grin made Jane's skin crawl. She dropped her gaze down to her lap, trying not to look startled. She didn't want to offend him, or Phil. He's probably a perfectly good person, she thought. Looks can be deceiving. But the hair that had risen on the back of Jane's neck did not settle down.