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Fourth Debt Pepper Winters 13040K 2023-09-01

He kissed rowl built in his throat "You won’t have to I’ to save you It will all be over soon"

The drealass roused me

The vacant despair inside ether infinitesier Jethro’s dreah that I didn’t burst into tears

Whatever the Hawks did to me, no matter what affliction I suffered, no matter how desolate my mind became, I still existed--still survived

I’m not done until I’m dead And even then, I’ ca my eyes to the dark

The heavy e to floor They blocked the night sky and any hint of the mysterious noise

Tap Tap-tap

Could a tree have fallen? Could Flaw be throwing stones at etfroo The iht it any the mattress until it faded The cut onca unsteadily to my feet, I padded across the room and wrenched the curtains aside

My eyes dropped to the sill, searching for answers

I tripped backward

What--

Sohty hopped away, only to soar back and tap against the glass I’d expected to see a ard branch or even soainst the fraer fro so lost? Was it so she believed in me?

I’m not alone…

My heart swelled as lost hope unfurled

The people I lived with hting because I was loved Out there, somewhere, I was loved by people who mattered

My heart twisted as I bent closer to inspect

The bird of prey rapped its beak on the , hopping on the sill outside Its beady black eyes tore through lance it knehat I’d dealt with and how close I was to the end

You understandaway from the , I balled my hands

You don’t need a saviour…if you only believed in yourself again

So what, your hair is gone? So what, your brother is gone? So what, Jethro is gone?

You’re not gone