I hung up and ran back downstairs with money for the cabbie. The manager stopped me.

“I paid your fare, it was the least I could do,” he said, his kindness surprising me. I nodded and whispered, “Thank you.”

I went back to the room and stared out the windows at the very spot where Ashling had disappeared. The world was a darker place without her, I could feel it hanging on me like a shroud of muted colours, sights and sounds. Ashling was such a huge part of my life, my world, that the thought of her being gone forever . . . it was overwhelming. My body trembled as I stood, staring, at the water. No, I couldn’t let this be the end. I sucked in a deep breath and cleared my mind.

Trading my shorts for jeans, I slipped on a sweater and headed down the stairs to the paths that would take me through the forest and out to the beach. The pathway was silent, not even a single bird call to help me feel less alone. I didn’t know how long I had before Luke and Bres showed up, but there was no doubt in my mind that they would. The heavy boughs of cedar and fir, evergreens and maple trees lined the wooden path. Ferns, moss and flowers I thought were bleeding hearts covered the marshy ground in between the trees. Soon I could hear the surf, the wash of waves on the sand, the hiss of the water pulling back into the ocean—and for a moment I hated it all. The world should not be the same as it always was with Ashling gone, with my mom missing.

The pathway opened up, displaying the shoreline in all its glory; the mist had finally burned off with the afternoon sun. I stepped from the wooden pathway onto the sand.

Or at least, I tried to.

~~

7

My face hit an invisible Barrier; my hands slid up the slick surface. I let out a gasp. It was just like my dream.

“No, this can’t be happening,” I said. I could see the sand and water, the brilliant yellow police tape that circled the area where we’d been. I put my hands up again and slowly walked parallel to the beach, my heart rate and breathing skyrocketing the further I went, the more I realized that it was unreachable.

I ran, pushing my way through the bush, the Barrier preventing me from even setting foot on the sand. No, I had to get to the water, to find a way to the docks and the boats that could take me and my dive gear out in the surf. I skidded to a stop and searched the ground, finding a large rock with ease. With all my weight behind it, I slammed it into the Barrier, the shock rippling down my arm, but there was nothing else. Not even a hint of a crack.