My stomach dropped with a wave of repulsion. I brought a shaking hand to my mouth. This isn’t what I wanted.
“You were a beast,” Sean’s voice was proud.“You almost attacked us, too. You broke the chains and scratched the living shit out of Dennis.”
“Look at this.” Dennis raised his shirt, showing off something I couldn’t process.
I sniffed the air as it blew a stench of blood.“I can smell it,” my voice wavered as the first tear fell. I looked at my clothes, which were wet with blood.“Why did I do this?” I ran a hand through my hair and caught a fistful. I winced at the sharp pain and let it drop—I was too strong now to even do my nervous habit. I spotted another body—its entire throat was missing—and broke down crying.
“Vixen, what’s wrong? You knew this was gonna happen.” Dennis was suddenly at my side.
“I’m so sorry.” My voice was choked as I walked to the woman and kneeled beside her. “What did she do?”
“Lots of robberies and violent assaults,” Sean said. “She deserved it, like you requested.”
“No one deserves this. I could’ve at least left her throat in. What’s the family gonna think when they find her like this?” I looked up through blurry eyes.“They might not even be able to identify her because she’s so fucked up. She looks like a bear ate her!”
“A bear?” Dennis laughed as Sean shot him a warning look.
I ran a hand along the girl’s collar bone, where the very last trail of blood had seeped out. Self-loathing hit at the realization it smelled good. There was a quiet laugh, and I looked up to see Dennis barely holding back a smile.
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to taste it. I’m sure you don’t remember, but you tore into her like she was your precious bag of Halloween candy.”
“It’s not funny!” My voice gave out as I stood and picked up the body to throw at him.
He moved so quickly it didn’t touch him; it rolled through the grass and I suddenly felt sick. I sank to the ground, berating myself while tears flowed. Why did I do this?Howcould I do this? What the fuck was wrong with me?
“Sorry. I’ll stop.”Denniskneeled beside me as I doubled over, my body wracking with sobs. “Are you okay?” He placed a hand on my shoulder but I flinched away.
I didn’t deserve to be comforted by him. I reached for a fistful of hair but he caught my hand, then grabbed the other when it tried to do the same.
“We should take her home,” Sean said. “I can come back for the bodies later. Do you think she’ll be okay around Ari?”
I let out a mortified wail. Breathing got harder with each passing thought: I might actually hurt her, I couldn’t live with myself, I couldn’t do it, I should just die, I should finish what my parents started, no one would ever want me, nobody ever did, I should kill myself and get it over with—
“Okay, we’re taking you home,”Dennissaid, pulling me up.“You’re not killing yourself, you’re not gonna kill Ari. It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Is that what she’s thinking?”
He nodded before wrapping an arm around my waist and steering me toward the trees. I closed my eyes while we walked, trying desperately to stop crying. I took in strained, shaky breaths. Forced my thoughts to our surroundings. The crunching twigs beneath our feet. The crisp morning air.
“Are you feeling any better?” Dennis asked.
I opened my eyes to see we’d passed the lake and were nearing the car. I nodded, trying my best to fight away a fresh wave of tears, but the second I blinked two more rolled down. I heard someone screaming and whirled around.
“Do you hear that?” I asked. It was getting worse.
“No,” Sean said. It stopped.
“Oh.” I stared at the lake, wondering if it had come from beneath the water.
“C’mon.” Dennis took my hand and I stumbled along.
My visionwas blurry, but I could still make out the looks he and Sean were exchanging, along with someone sitting in the car’s backseat.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“Who’s who?” Dennis dropped my hand and went to the driver’s side.
“Never mind,” I muttered. Maybe it was a shadow. I opened the back door and let out a terrified shriek.
