“You did it before I could. But if you hadn’t killed her, I would’ve done it for you. It would’ve been a lot worse than what you did.”He held tight while I sank toward the ground. I stopped clawing and stared. Stared at every piece of the girl I’d killed. Every limb I’d ripped off and everystream of bloodrunning past us. “I see why you tried to run her over,”Dennis said.“That’s the one, right?”
I nodded as he carefully let me down. I fell to my knees.“What’re we gonna do with the body?”My eyes barely moved as he walked about to examine it.
He stood in the middle and looked around. At the blood and the body—thepiecesof body. The mess I created. The life I took. My stomach churned as he gathered it.
“Will you be okay here for a minute?”he asked.
I nodded. He seemed torn about leaving, but he eventually walked away. I numbly stood and walked to the wall, where blood was smeared and dripping. I stood still for who knows how long, then slowly sank against it. I pulled my knees to my chest and stared.
The sound of chains jarred me out of atrance.My eyes rose to see Dennis back with a few things. There was no trace of the body, but his skin and shirt glistened with blood.Herblood.
“Did you touch anything?”he asked. I shook my head. He set the supplies down and poured some chemicals on the ground, letting the blood run thinner before he wiped it up. He dusted some powder over the ground and let that sit while he moved to the walls.
I closed my eyes and tried to block everything out. I heard scrubbing and liquids. I could smell something toxic taking away the stench of blood. I could hear the chemicals and water running across pavement, his spikes and chains while he worked, the sound of his heartbeat compared to mine.
Mine was still racing—almost the speed of a human’s—but his was so calm. It was almost soothing. Until I remembered everything that happened and opened my eyes. I stared at him for a few seconds until my vision blurred and tears began to fall.
“Where were you all day?”My voice was barely there, but he heard and looked up.
“I’ll tell you later. You’re not…”he trailed off.“I need to clean this up.”
I went silent again while he poured more chemicals. Some time passed before he gathered everything and stood.“What’d you do with it?”I met his eyes; he knew what I meant.
“Scattered and buried herin the woods.I’llbury these further out.”He held up the drenched rag and a couple of empty bottles.“I’ll be right back. Stay here and don’t touch anything.”
My eyes drifted as he walked away. The girl was gone. The blood was gone. I covered my ears and squeezed my eyes, trying to block out her screams.
“Stop it,”I begged.“Stop, get out,please—”
They kept going. Her screams and wordless shrieks echoed in my mind. Over and over, painfully loud, my nails on her skin and her blood running down my arms. My eyes shot open at the sound of footsteps.
“Are you okay?”Dennis squatted and gently pulled my hands down.“What are you telling to get out?”
“Her screaming.” My voice shook as I covered my ears again.“She won’t stop screaming. It’s so loud. It’s hurting my ears and it won’t stop. She never stops. She’s never gonna leave me alone—”
“Covering your ears won’t stop it. We should go.”He tugged my arms and lifted, catching me when I staggered forward.
“We can’t leave.” I stared over his shoulder. “What if—”
“There are no ifs, we have to go. I cleaned the evidence and the DNA, but if someone finds the body and traces it back to this area and remembers seeing us, we might become suspects. I don’t care for myself, but that’s not happening with you.”
I kept staring at the place she’d been. At the spotless walls and the flawless cement. The lack of any proof we’d been here. It was like she never existed. Dennis wrapped an arm around my waistandled me away. I couldn’t stop staring.
“Stop.”He turned my head so I wasn’t looking.“If someone passes we can’t look suspicious.”I nodded and kept my gaze forward.“We should move fast.”
“No,” I resisted when he tried to speed up, “I need a minute. Please.”
He didn’t seem happy, but he didn’t argue or force it.Instead, he carefully brought me closer, like I might shatter if he did much more. We walked in silence for a couple of minutes. I bit my lip and wrapped my arm through his, trying hard not to cry.My throat hurt, my eyes were stinging, and I was fighting the overwhelming urge to break down. I had to stay calm.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”He looked at me when I stopped walking and let go.
“For taking care of the body. And for Kiro yesterday.”I stared ahead as he took my hand.
“You’re welcome.”He started pulling again but I didn’t move. I kept staring, then slowly turned around.“Vixen, we need to go.”
“We can’t leave.”I stumbled backward as he pulled harder.“I have to take it back. There has to be a way to take it back.”
