The rock with the word monster.
Romeo dug his shovel into the ground until it stayed upright, then trudged his way through the muddy field to the outhouse.
Keeley.
Number ten.
Romeo crouched, stroking a strand of Keeley’s hair behind her ear.
He stared at Keeley’s blotchy face for a long time.Her eyes were partly open, flashing pink whites, and her throat, they’d squeezed her so hard it had misshapen her fragile neck.
It looked broken, crushed, and swollen all in one.
It wasn’t Romeo’s first kill, but it was Chad’s.
There was a sick pride in that.
He smiled down at her, not wanting to forget the bruises made by his and Chad’s hands.
He didn’t need to forget.
Romeo tugged his phone from his jeans and took a picture.
The magpies clucked and called from outside as Romeo slipped his phone back into his pocket.
He hauled Keeley’s stiffening body onto his shoulder, then strode outside with her on his back.Chad was still panting from the dig, crouched in the dirt.
Romeo dropped Keeley into the grave.
She landed with a thud.
Chad didn’t speak.
Romeo began shoveling.
“Rest,” he ordered.
Chad didn’t argue.
His eyes were on Keeley as Romeo began to fill the hole.
“I’m sorry,” Chad whispered.
Romeo paused, shovel in hand.
But Chad wasn’t speaking to Keeley, he was looking at Romeo with sad brown eyes.
“I should’ve been stronger.I should have been able to stop myself from jumping.I feel...I feel...”
“You are not weak,” Romeo said, letting the dirt slip from his shovel onto Keeley’s face.“You’re stronger than you think you are.You’re still here, and she isn’t.”
“I called out for you,” Chad lowered his gaze.“When I surfaced, I screamed your name.I didn’t know where I was, or what was happening.I just...I wanted you.Only you.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there.”
Chad laughed without humor.“Do you really think you owe me an apology?”
“You don’t owe me one either.”Romeo scooped up another shovelful of dirt.“She drugged you.She filled your head with lies.She made you go into withdrawal.She made you sick, and she made you jump.”He spat into the grave.“She is responsible for you almost dying and now she is dead.”
