“Come on, Bun,” I grumble, “come for me,” I repeat myself against her skin, biting, kissing, and licking, leading her to the edge before I add a little pain—sticking her with the points of my teeth. It’s nothing too hard, but enough to sting the sensitive nerves surrounding her collarbone.
Bunny’s climax is immediate and overwhelming, her moans striking with almost as much force as the thunder above. I can feel her walls clenching my throbbing cock, working my pulsating nerve until I’m shooting every last drop inside her. The heat of our juices draws another long groan from her chest. I snuff the sound out with my tongue in her mouth, finishing my final thrusts inside her quivering center.
Weak and tired, Bunny sags in my arms. Her eyes are closed, with a slight smile stuck on her sleepy face. With a quiet cabin and a silent forest surrounding us, I allow myself to stand here, holding her in my arms, and imagine that this is our life. This is our home. This is our view.Thisis what we made out of our horrors.
I imagine, with this broken girl in my arms, that our life is complete.
I can only imagine.
Cade
“Do you think Sophie is still hiding in the closet?” Bunny’s question is quiet, stuck in deep thought and reflection. She’s been that way since we left the isolated home in the woods.
I won’t lie and say that what just happened isn’t on my mind either, but I’m doing my best not to think about it. It’s not like I took lives happily in the underground. Killing doesn’t make me feel good. Though I will say, I don’t feel as shitty about this one as I did the ones prior. But Sophie… I do feel bad about what she’ll find.
“I don’t know.” One day, hopefully, when she’s older, she’ll understand why we went as far as we did. My greatest wish is that when all this is over, only some will be able to put the pieces together. That people like Sophie will know that what we did, we did for them, too.
There were—are—a lot of kids still stuck there. I think of them as we walk in the shadows, hiding away from the growing morning light. I want to save them all, but until I can, I think I can feel better about myself knowing I at least helped save one.
The pouring rain has turned into a misty, soft drizzle, dotting our skin in dew. The moment between us is too heavy to speak through, filled with too many memories and the embracing ofwhat we’ve just done. So many times since we walked away from the cabin have I wanted to pick apart Bunny’s thoughts, poke and prod until she bends and spills everything in her pretty little head. But it’s a lot, I think, even for me.
The greatest part of being stuck in that underground hell was that there was never any time to think. At every moment of the day, a new horror would emerge, and that would occupy any remaining space in my mind. Now, unable to enjoy the peace of falling rain, I have nothing to do but think.
First, it was Sophie, with her fearful, tear-filled gaze, who still somehow trusted us. Then, it was the kids whose cries I had to ignore. Now, while keeping to the shadows with Bunny by my side, all I can think of are those first few months alone.
There was always fucked up shit going on in my life, whether it be abuse from home or abuse I caused to myself. No matter what was happening, I can honestly say I never felt afraid, not until those first few months. Suddenly, I was shoved into a world that didn’t even show me the worst there is to offer. I was beaten, diced… forced to commit the most disgusting acts. Still, I knew a life outside of that one. But these kids, well… that’s all they know. To them, life isnothingbut a tragedy.
By the time we finally arrive back at the Honeymoon Inn, the rain has stopped; the clouds have parted, and the sun shines brightly down upon us, but it can’t clear my thoughts. The warmth attempts to drive the cold away from our skin, but it’s seeped way past our bones. Fortunately, I know the inn will be warm. Susie keeps the thermostat at a constant eighty degrees.
When we walk through the front door of the motel, Susie’s head turns up over the monitor, a smile already present on her face to welcome new tenants, but when she notices that it's us walking back through the door, a frown takes its place instantly.
“What on God’s green earth happened to you two?!” She rushes to our side with a slight jog, racing to stop before us withnothing but horror and dread smeared across her lips. Opening my mouth, I race to find a sufficient lie, but before I can think of anything, she digs her nails into our arms and drags us both into her tiny, disorganized office.
Pacing, Susie eyes us with panic. Her mouth opens and closes several times before she finally decides all she can choke out is. “Okay.” Over and over again, Susie mutters, “Okay. Okay. Okay.”
Bunny and I wait with our arms at our sides. We share a glance, silent and slightly scared, about what she could possibly say to two teenagers covered in blood.
The struggle is evident, written across every feature and expression. The dread grows in our stomachs, pits turning into deep, cavernous cavities that threaten to swallow us whole. Only after several minutes of deep breathing and heated glances our way does Susie’s pacing finally stop, and the words she needed to collect are finally ready.
After one final deep breath, Susie just comes out with it. “I need you to tell me what thefuckis going on,” she starts, waving a single arm in the air, motioning to the two of us. “I have two children walk into my motel, lookin’ as if they had just escaped hell.Aman,” she snaps, rage entering her stare, “in a suit—men in suits don’t stay here—comes looking for you both, and then youdisappear!Only to come back looking like…this!”
Panting, Susie keeps her arm suspended for another moment before shoving her hand into her pants pocket. When it emerges, she brings out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. As she brings the cigarette close to her lips, we spot the shaking that is only amplified when the flame approaches the waiting smoke.
It’s not hard to decipher the signs of worry. After every fight, mom displayed the same shakes, only with alcohol—she wasn’t a smoker. I feel bad that we’ve brought out the same emotion in Susie, especially considering she’s been nothing but kind to us. She doesn’t deserve this shit in her life.
Stepping up, I try to do the right thing. “It’s nothing you need to worry about,” I promised. “We’ll leave now. Thank you for all your help.” And I genuinely mean it. We would have died that first night without her. No amount of words can express that. Taking Bunny by the hand, I begin to pull us away, marching us out of the office despite Susie’s calls. It isn’t the final one that I stop, and it’s not because of what she says. It’s how she says it.
The worry is gone, as is the anger—just straight matter-of-fact. “There is blood on your pants.”
Time suspends for a moment before Bunny looks down, horrified by the realization that we couldn’t hide it all. Crushing all the tiny bones in my hand, she sputters, looking to me to save the situation. But what can I say? We fucked up. We were stupid and careless, and we walked out into the world, fucking zombified, and didn’t even bother to fucking check our clothes! We can’t be this fucking reckless, I silently remark, glaring into her blazing eyes.
Think. Think. Think. Think. Think.
Fucking THINK!
My mouth falls open, ready to spew some bullshit, but Susie snaps at us instead.
“I have beenmorethan generous with you two. So, before you lie to me, I would strongly consider what I’ve done for you and what Icouldhavedone.” The scolding ends with a glare directed at Bunny, a mute reminder of the lies she’s told on our behalf—all to keep us safe.
