From the corner of my eye, I can see Theodore watching me, staring into the side of my face, wondering what I’m about to do.
“Turn around,” I order before prying open her solidified jaw. The snapping of her bones echoes through the trees, being carried away by the wind until it drifts into empty moonlight. Of all things tonight, that was the loudest sound, one that will haunt me for the rest of my life.
Okay, Scarlett, you can do this. You can do this. You can fucking do this!
Exhaling, I reach for the pliers I brought along and slide it into her mouth. The clinking it makes when it collides with her tooth sends razor blades down my spine. Shaking away the sensation, I grab the end of her dried, still porcelain white tooth. Everything in me screams to stop, not to go any further, but I silence those voices with a crack of my neck.
I breathe through the tension in my arms, begging for the strength to do this properly, so Theodore isn’t forced to. I don’t think he could handle what I’m about to do. The last thing I hear before I yank Beth’s front tooth from its gum is Theodore’s violent gagging.
One down, thirty-one to go.
It goes on forever, but finally I wrench the final tooth free.Well, most of it.Some of the back molar cracked off, still embedded deep in her tissue. I can’t grasp the final bits, so I’m forced to leave it alone. Dropping the tinkling teeth into the bag with the fingers, I lean back onto the tarp and sigh. The hardest part is over now. In theory, it should all be smooth sailing from here.
“Hand me that bottle.”
After taking the lye from Theodore’s grasp, I carefully unscrew the lid, making sure none of the corrosive splashes on my body.
I back away as far as possible before pouring the liquid and some water into her open mouth. Instantly, I watch the lye take effect, burning her insides until it’s an indistinguishable, pureed mess.
“Okay, are you ready?”
Together, we take the ends of the tarp and roll her body into the earth. Beth lands on her side, coppery brown bubbles foaming out of her mouth while her legs bend in awkward angles.
Theodore and I offer a quick prayer. This was an accident, after all. We hope her soul finds a semblance of peace in the hell she’s made a home.
After dousing her body in two more bottles of lye, we watch her sizzle and burn. The moisture from the wet mud creates the reaction, heating the corrosive enough to have her melting before our eyes, washing away any evidence left behind.
It’s a relief, witnessing her become mush in the ground. Hopefully, the bugs start to eat her before anyone can unearth her singed carcass.
Swiftly, we shovel mounds of dirt over her body, packing it in with the spade before stomping it tight. Then, for an extra layer of protection, we carry over a broken tree and lay it above her grave, camouflaging her tomb with nature.
Theodore shoves everything, the tarp, and tools, into the backpack before squeezing the bag of all the remains inside the open lye.
Well, almost all the remains…
There are a couple of pieces I set aside.
“Let them dissolve over time,” he says while I kick leaves over our footprints. Then, with the shovels over his back, we head back to the car in a new direction, leaving a winding, twisting trail behind.
We’re silent on the way home. There’s really nothing to say.
What we did… it’ll be with us forever, a bond that could never be broken or replaced… binding us until death steals us away.
The disappearance of Elizabeth Ellis will be a shame to some, but as Theodore takes my hand, dropping soft kisses along my tainted skin, I can’t help but feel grateful.
“I love you, pretty girl.”
Her death was my greatest gift.
Scarlett Dane
CHAPTER XXXIX
I didn’t end up home until five this morning, when the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon.
After disposing of Beth, Theodore took me to his storage locker to swap vehicles before taking me back to his place. He had me undressed before we even exited the car, leaving my clothes strewn throughout his driveway while his lips explored my skin.
For the first time, he made love to me everywhere but the bedroom, wanting a piece of me to touch every surface of his home.
