And again.
There will be bruises along the length of my body. I might crush my shoulder cap here in the dark for a boy who won’t give me his words.
“Sullen!” I scream his name like he screamed mine. “What did he?—”
“I stabbed him, Karia.” Stein’s voice makes me jump.
I spin, my back to the wall, palms pressed flat to it. The pain lances up my body, my heart knocks precariously within my ribcage, and I see the glow of the room beyond Stein.
He is in the doorway. There is commotion at his back. More people, more voices; they cannot hear him admit to his evil deed.
I stabbed him, Karia.
My bottom lip trembles.
No.
I feel as if I am sliding.
I push my soles against the concrete floor to steady myself as I shake my head, still flung across the door at my back, as if I can keep Stein away.
But if he’s not lying, I need to get to Sullen.
I need to help him.
I think of his breathless words. How he sounded so strained.
I stabbed him.
No, no, no.
Stein cocks his head.
I cannot see the details of his demonic face, the way the light is behind him, but I see his shadow, the outline of evil.
Once again, I imagine him in the flames.
Melting flesh.
The sweet aroma of his rotting corpse.
It would be my favorite scent.
I feel as if I am not living in reality.
I wonder if, in fact, this is all a dream.
I can’t speak at all.
Stein studies me, hands in his pockets. “It is admirable, the way you care for him. Hurting yourself to help him.” There is a smile in his tone.
I think Sullen whimpers somewhere behind me.
I am silent.
“I could hurt you better,” Stein says quietly, so softly, I wonder if I made up the words inside my head. “In fact, I will. But you should know he is not worth any of it. He is demented, mad, he is not well. He never has been. Whatever stories he hastold you of all his scars—if, in fact, he’s dared to show them to you—they are lies. He hurts himself, and he calls it paternal punishment. I have spent my life with a broken heart, watching my only child slice up his skin, scar his flesh.” His voice catches.
In the dark, if I didn’t know Sullen like I know my own soul, I might believe Stein Rule.
