When Emma read that entry she had set the journal down on her desk and leaned back in her chair. Ryker Forgeron? Emma walked over to the closet and dug the picture out of the box. What if this couple was Ryker and Alexandra? They had fallen in love and had a daughter. Emma smiled wistfully. It was a romantic story, two people save each other and fall in love. It didn’t tell her anything about the bracelet but it was still a good story.
It wasn’t until two days later that Emma finally stumbled across a passage mentioning the bracelet. She was reclining in her bed, pillows propped up behind her back and she read through Alexandra’s journal and snacked on a bowl of chocolate covered pretzels. As soon as she stumbled across the entry she set the bowl on the bedside table, focusing completely on what Alexandra had said.
October 7, 1991
The fights between my brothers are getting worse. I don’t know how much longer I can handle this. I want to get away from them, to escape from all their anger and this life that I am trapped in. Ryker is worried about me. I know my brothers would never hurt me but he isn’t so sure. Today he gave me a bracelet, it has three strands of leather with flat metal disks woven into the design. Ryker told me to always wear it, that the bracelet would protect me even when he couldn’t. I thought it was just a good luck charm but he made me promise to never take it off so maybe there is more to this bracelet than I know.
That was all that Alexandra said about the bracelet. Emma skimmed through the next few entries to see if she mentioned it again but she didn’t.
Leaning back against the headrest of her bed Emma sighed and looked up at the ceiling of her room. A bracelet that mysteriously attaches itself to her and refuses to let go, Ryker making Alexandra promise never to take it off, what was it about this bracelet that was so special? And Emma wasn’t any closer to figuring out how to get the stupid thing off of her.
If Ryker believed the bracelet would protect its wearer somehow, was it just a coincidence she was wearing the same bracelet that’s supposed to protect her right before she walked away from an accident that should have killed her?
Emma felt like she had just found more questions instead of answers.