The Illusion of Annabella Read Online Free PDF

about sucking it up, then wipes his eyes with his hand and lifts his head back up. He looks like hasn’t slept in days, making him appear older than twenty-one-years-old.
     
    He takes my hand in his. “How are you feeling?”
     
    Such a simple question, but it throws me off.
     
    “Good . . . but where is everyone?”
     
    A strangled sound gets caught in his throat. “Zhara, Alexis, and Nik are at home with Jessamine.
     
    “Oh good . . . She made it here.” I skim the white walls and ceiling, trying to piece together what happened. “But why am I here?” I nod downward at the foot of the bed. “And what happened to my leg?”
     
    “You can’t remember what happened?” He rubs his red, puffy eyes with his free hand.
     
    “I remember there was an accident. And the nurse said I had to have surgery on my leg, but she never explained why. She also said I’ve been out for, like, over a week, which just seems crazy. I mean, it’s just a leg injury, right? How the hell does that knock someone out for over a week? And why the hell aren’t Mom and Dad here . . . Wait, are they in the hospital, too?” An image of a mangled car briefly flashes through my mind.  “Are they okay?”
     
    “You weren’t knocked out, Anna . . . They had to keep you heavily sedated for surgery and then again after you woke up because you . . .” He summons a deep breath, dragging his fingers down his face. “I don’t even know how to tell you this.”
     
    His voice cracks, and my heart races. Loki frowns at the monitor then gives me the same look he wore when he had to tell me our dog had been run over.
     
    Tears spill down my cheeks. “Just spit it out,” I whisper. “Just say it!”
     
    “I’m sorry, Anna. I’m so fucking sorry.”
     
    He never actually says the words aloud, but I figure out what happened on my own. I think I might have known the moment I heard the semi truck hit our car, but my head was crammed with glitter and rainbows and unicorns, fairytales and illusions. I didn’t want to believe what I saw and heard. That my parents could be dead.
     
    “I don’t even know what I’m going to do,” Loki whispers. “I don’t think I can do this.”
     
    “Do what?” My voice is hollow, empty.
     
    “This . . . take care of Nikoli, Zhara, Alexis, you . . .” He slips his fingers from mine as his head falls forward.
     
    “Why would you have to take care of us?”
     
    “Because,” he says, his voice cracking, “there’s no one else but me.”
     
    There’s no one else?
     
    No one.
     
    Else?
     
    Reality is brutal. Mean. Harsh. The reality is my parents are gone. I never got to tell my mom about Ben. I’ll never get to tell her about another boy again. I’ll never get to pick out outfits with her or hang out with my dad at his store, listening to old rock songs and chatting about books. The last memory I’ll ever have is my mom lying to me. The last time I ever looked my dad in the eyes was when I withheld the truth from him—when I betrayed him.
     
    There’s no one else.
     
    No more glitter rainstorms. No more burnt breakfasts. No Fourth of July picnics or crazy birthday trips. No catching imaginary fireflies.
     
    I want to scream. Cry and yell until there’s nothing left inside me. Get out all the anger and guilt out that I can feel rotting inside me.
     
    This can’t be real.
     
    It just can’t.
     
    Instead of screaming, my lips remain sealed, and the pain, guilt, and anger remains stuck inside me.
     

Chapter Three
     
    The Promise of Rain
     
    Six Months Later
     
    “Anna, open the damn door!” Nikoli hollers, banging on the bathroom door. “I’m going to be late for practice!”
     
    I crank up the volume of my iPod so the lyrics of Rise Against suffocate his hounding. Definitely not dancing music, which makes the song that much more perfect.
     
    Leaning over the sink, I check my reflection in the mirror. My eyes are heavily framed with liner, but I need more to cover up