Harmony studied her for a long moment.
“You sound like you know something.”
Mary held her gaze. “Maybe I recognize obsession when I see it.”
She crushed her cigarette in a puddle and slipped inside, leaving the ripples widening until they vanished.
Cass and Harmony walked on, needing fresh air to push out the rot that had soaked into their bones.
“Do you ever wonder if disasters are sent down from the heavens just to see what we’ll do in the midst of terror?” Harmony asked.
Cass chuckled. “If I were a god, I’d do that for sure.”
“I probably would too,” Harmony admitted.
They reached The Brewhouse. Tosh, Torie, and Zach were already there. Tosh wore exhaustion like a uniform. Torie hid behind oversized sunglasses. Zach’s thumb hovered over an unsent text.
“You guys, we need to stop living like we’re at a never-ending wake,” Cass said as she plopped down.
“It’s hard to find joy when there’s evil all around,” Tosh muttered.
“Then we’re letting someone else control our story,” Harmony said.
“We can’t do anything about the twisted mind of some freak,” Zach said.
He looked at Torie, who glared.
“It wasn’t me,” she snapped, having to defend herself again.
“It’s someone,” Zach said. “I’m beginning to not care. I’m sick of living like this.”
“We choose how we live,” Harmony said.
“Do we?” Cass asked. “Every time we try, something knocks us on our asses again.”
“Well, at least we keep getting back up,” Harmony said.
“A person can only rise so many times before they give up and stay down,” Tosh said.
“You’ve never believed that,” Harmony pointed out.
“Murder changes a person’s perspective really fast,’’ Tosh said.
“Well, we know the killer wants us focused, so let’s stop feeding them. A book only sells if people keep buying it,” Harmony said. “I might be wrong, but let’s stop buying.”
Zach scoffed. “How do we do that?”
“We stop admiring the art.”
Torie stood sharply. “Stop calling it art. You sound like you admire it.”
“Maybe it is art. We’re all staring, aren’t we?” Harmony said.
Tosh slammed his palm on the table. “Enough! People are dead. This isn’t a story.”
“Life is a story. We all just react differently,” Harmony said.
“Do you really think you can write your way out of this?” Zach asked.
