Page 25 of Body Tox

I gritted my teeth so hard I felt sure they would break, tasting that familiar metallic tang in my mouth.

The man watched me carefully, uncertainty painting his features. He looked at me the way you would a cat when you didn’t know if they were about to go ape shit randomly and permanently try to delete your stupid ass for just existing.

The glass of the cabinets behind me caught my reflection. I looked as unhinged as I felt.

I teetered on my feet, unable to decide if I was going to pass out or scream until my lungs gave out. Instead, I eyed the scalpel in my hand. Cali’s blood was still shining at its sharp end.

“You like to play doctor, Vamps?” I said, tilting my head slowly at my well and true enemy.

His eyes narrowed, stepping back slightly, almost like he didn’t know he moved. I smiled wider, hysteria bubbling to the surface in a sing-song laugh that could make the asylum patients shake.

“You’re a psychopath, lady. What are you fucking doing?”

I thought about that…What was I doing?

“You know that’s just rude, Vamps,” I said, bringing the blade up and cutting away the material of my pajama pants until they fell off my body in tattered strips of fabric.

I was now standing in a white lace thong and my crop top.

Damn. What an outfit to be described in my obituary.

At least I’d made it easier for an autopsy when whatever unlucky fuck took over Stiffy’s job as the local mortician.

“I am clearly a high-functioning sociopath,” I said just a bit louder than a whisper, snorting at his ignorance.

He took tentative steps forward, and I waved the scalpel blade around like a magic wand.

“You are one to talk,” I said, the hysterical giggles happening all over again. They left a tremor in my voice, the sound vibrating in my throat.

The door opened, and the weary secretary screamed, turning to run. I threw the other sharp tool in my grip toward her direction, and she fell with a garbled groan.

Blood pooled under her body, and the wound from her back spouted like a geyser, a fountain of deep red swallowing the whiny bitch.

“Should have let me in sooner, bitch.” I sneered with pure venom in my heart at her.

My stalker backed up and covered his mouth, shakily grabbing the mask from his pocket and pressing it to his nose and lips like a lifeline. I laughed loudly. The last shred of humanity leaked out of me through the sounds coming out of my throat.

“The vampire calls me a psychopath? That’s rich.”

My humor died off as I tested the point of the scalpel on my thigh. The high of the sting made me hiss, downright fucking euphoric.

I let the blade glide, my own blood mingling with Cali’s. I moaned, shoving the metal deeper, my vision blurring through my tears and the stinging, beautiful pain. This is the last thing I can do for you, Cali baby.

My body fell into a hazy cloud, collapsing like a rickety bridge. That skull mask blinked in and out of my vision. An anguished sound roared above me, reminding me of a wounded grizzly bear.

I could see gauze being shoved onto my beautiful mark. The white turned red just as fast as it covered my pale skin.

“No. You fucking…don’t!”

The words were fuzzy, like a radio station going in and out that I couldn’t quite catch the channel.

“Bye-bye, Pretty Boy,” I mumbled, closing my eyes, waiting to be with my Cali again.

Ilooked at what my arms held, a fucking insane woman bleeding out in front of me. I could smell her blood even through my mask. God, I wanted to fucking taste her, let her bleed out onto my skin, and lick each and every drop of her life. The metallic scent was too strong in the air. It was damn near crippling, and I moaned at my need to give in.

“Fuck you, crazy bitch. You don’t get to go out like this,” I said, shoving more and more gauze into that fucking never-ending line of crimson.

I cursed when her head lolled and fell back into my arms. Her beautiful white hair was drenched in red as I picked up the Little Wraith.

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