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"You," he spits out, and I can’there?"

He takes two steps towardhis hold on the banister I don’t think I just run I barrel past hih space to reach the stairs

Down, down, down, the ht, little bursts of pain exploding in my ankles and knees

"Hey! Stop! Stop"

I hurtle out onto the beach, a sob working its way out ofblindly up the shore Andre bursts out of the lighthouse after me

"Listen Listen I just want to talk to you"

I losesecond, I can’t find it again; I rake blindly through the wet sand and the shalloirls of water, dragging like fingers back toward the ocean I can hear Andre’s footsteps dru on the beach behind ers close on metal The bracelet I scoop it up and push back toup the slope toward the highway Sandwort nips at nore that, too

I pull rass for purchase, sand slipping beneath rowth is so thick, I can barely hts, lighting up a vast network of Virginia creeper and sea oats, as a car sweeps by I keep pushing, holding one arht in a fairy tale, trying to fightthicker and thicker

But this isn’t a fairy tale

Andre crashes through the underbrush, cursing But he’s falling back I risk a glance behindviolently as he atterowth releases hway is there, the s like oil in theover, crunching over es I hop the divider and turn left--away from Orphan’s Beach, away from Beamer’s, toward the empty coastline where the houses are unfinished and the beach splinters increasingly into huge formations of stone I can lose hiives up

I take off down the road, sticking close to the divider A car blasts bywith bass, blaring the horn So--someone hurt or dead, another life destroyed

I twist around Andre has hway now It’s too dark to see his face

"Jesus Christ," he shouts "Are you out of your--"

But whatever else he says gets whipped away as another car blows by

More sirens now I haven’t been this far south since the night of the accident, and everything looks unfa up froy hills and pine tree