Page 10 of Switching Graves

Connie shakes her head, her upper lip curling in disgust. “Then run and get help,Dee,” she spits bitterly through each compression. “Make sure you tell them what you’ve done.”

“I-I didn’t—God, you’re so impossible.” She hesitates for a second, staring down at Connie with a look of pure contempt before dropping her arms to her sides and turning away in a full sprint.

I watch her continue the fruitless attempt to revive him, mentally willing his eyes to open.

Come on Bane,I beg in my mind.Come back to me, buddy.

Seconds bleed into precious minutes and I start to panic over the consequences of this horrific day.

What will Mom and Dad do when I come home without Bane? What will I do if the police question me about being out here?

I can’t think beyond that, though. I cannot even begin to comprehend a future without Bane in it. I don’t want to, anyway. He’s my best friend.

I’ve fully convinced myself that this woman will revive him. So much so, that when the medics appear out of nowhere and rush toward him, I attempt to fight them away.

“He’ll come back,” I cry out, swatting at the medic’s jacket. “She’s going to bring him back. Just give her a chance.”

A woman with short, brown hair comes up behind Connie and wraps her palm across her shoulder. I realize then that she’s crying, her shoulders shaking with each sob as dead eyes stare out somewhere in the woods. The woman grabs her elbows and helps her to her feet, then someone hands her a blanket to drape over her back.

The other woman, Dee, trails behind with an identical blanket and doe eyes. She lets someone pull her into a hug, then rests her head on their shoulder as if she wasn’t the one who caused all of this.

“Raze! Bane!” my mother calls out in a panic, the leaves crunching loudly beneath her rushing feet. Her eyes ping pong around in a panic, bouncing off the strangers faces until they land on mine. I can see the shock and horror marring her face the instant she sees Bane beside me.

“Oh, god,no! My baby!” she wails, bypassing me to fall to her knees beside Bane with a harsh crack in her bones.

Two medics continue to resuscitate him without success. They sit back on their heels, sharing a devastated look before turning their gazes toward my mother, who is shocked speechless.

The rest of the afternoon passes in a blur. More people appear and fawn over my mother and the two women. A medic guides me off to the side to examine a cut across my cheek that he thinks will need stitches.

Conversations buzz around the trees, disturbing the peaceful silence I enjoyed with Bane less than an hour before.

“What happened here, Raze?” the medic asks me quietly.

“She chased him into the water,” I tell him with a voice that doesn’t sound like mine. “She killed him.”

“Who did?”

I lift my arm, surprised at the effort it takes to complete such a small task, and point a shaking finger at the blonde. “Her.”

Her widened eyes focused on me and the finger pointed in her direction, and I do something I’ve never done before.

I wish for her death.

Even worse, I claim it for myself.

3

Sonny

Present day

Ihold up the sheet of paper I found slipped beneath my door last night toward Carol, my landlord and boss. She hardly glances at it before grabbing a bucket of old flowers and slides it out of the cooler to be brought into the back room.

She clicks her tongue, still avoiding eye contact with me.

“Well . . . ?” I impatiently prod.

“I had no choice, kid. The shop isn’t doing good, and they finally gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

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