“I’ll find you, soon as I can.” My teeth chatter as my body fights the fever.
“I’m scared.”
“Nothing to fear but fear itself. That’s how it works.”
“I know,” she whispers hoarsely, fighting her tears.
“Don’t cry, Honey Bee.”
“I’m not,” she lies as she presses her face into my neck. The warmth of her tears trickles down my neck mingling with my sweat.
“You’re a terrible liar.” I kiss her forehead and battle the urge to throw up as the pain radiates through my bones from the beating I took in her place. It’s nothing new. I’ve been doing it for years. Each one worse than the last but I’m older and stronger now. We’ve lived in hell for five years now. We’re the forgotten.
Left to rot in this Hell.
But I’m going to save us.
No one else will.
**
The wind howls and the shutters beat against the house as the rain pelts my bedroom window. Balls of hail strike the roof as lightning cracks across the sky vibrantly. My bedroom door slowly creaks open. Hazel tip toes across the room dodging the worn floorboards that groan when stepped on. Mrs. Winnie might be old, but she has the ears of a damn rabbit.
We can never be too careful. If she knew Hazel sneaks into my bed often, she’d skin
us both alive. I shift to my side, peeling the cover back as she climbs over me. Her cold feet press into my legs for warmth.
“The power got knocked out.”
She hates the dark.
She throws a leg over my hip, snuggling into my side, burying her head in the crook of my neck. I put my palm to her heart, focusing on the rhythm as it beats rapidly in her chest.
Thump. Thump, thump. Thump. Thump, thump.
Her lips press against my skin, and she wiggles against me.
“Where will we go first?”
“Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere as long as you’re with me.”
“We’ll always be together,” I promise, hoping my words are true.
**
The blaze of the fire dances in our eyes. Sirens howl in the distance. To keep one promise, I have to break another. We only have minutes before they arrive and take me away. “I gotta go away now.” I tuck a finger under her chin knowing I shouldn’t but unable to deny myself of this one guilty pleasure. My greatest sin. I press my lips to hers. Soft and sweet meets my rough and dirty.
The hot wet of her tears stains my lips, etching their shape into my skin, and burning their saltiness into my memory, where the ghost of her will live forever. Until the day I’m dead and maybe even beyond that. Her tongue slides against mine one last time.
“Come back for me, Beni.”
“Soon as I can,” I tell her though we both know it’s a lie. I won’t be back any time soon. She’ll forget all about me and live a beautiful life. The one she deserves. The one I wish I could give her. But it’ll never be me.
The devil lives within me, and without her he’ll win every time.
I close my eyes and welcome the darkness.