Page 38 of Bonepetal
I make myself look.
The lockscreen blooms with missed calls and texts.
Miles
where r u
pick up ur phone pls
went by Nathan’s place… no answer. door was locked and all his mf lights were off
no one’s heard from him since last night at the cornmaze, like wtf
SALEM! call me rn
not kidding, bish. i’m actually worried
if u ghost me i’m filing a missing persons on BOTH of u (deadass)
text back “alive” or smth
fr, salem. don’t make me show up w pancakes & a crowbar
I read them until the words blur and turn to black bars.
My thumb stalls over the call button. I don’t press it. I don’t know what I would say. I don’t know how to hold yesterday in one hand and today in the other without dropping both.
Another message hops into the thread like a sparrow:
Miles
FINALLY! I’m taking you finally fucking reading my msgs as a sign of life, but just to be sure, say something, ANYTHING. Just one fucking word.
One word. Okay. Alive. Here. Haunted.
I tuck the phone away and stand. My thighs ache.
Not a surprising after the night I had and the amount of times I let him fuck me.
My eyes land on his split headstone and the torn dirt. The reel of flashbacks plays whether I want it to or not.
Him on his knees in his own grave, licking and sucking at me until I broke exactly like he wanted me to.
Like he knew I would.
Pushing myself up, I pull my jacket tighter around myself and I turn to leave, passing through the rows of buried Thorned Patch members. People I once called family, friends, and head for the deer trail that cuts back to the main roads.
The property is quiet. It always is. No one comes out here.
They never did, and especially not now, after everything that happened.
I take the long way, through the pines, along the old service road, over the creek stones, sticking to shade until the trees thin. By the time I hit the edge of town, and climb my stairs, the hum in my blood has settled into a steady beat.
Each step lands on it.
I unlock my door, kick it shut, and rest my forehead on the wood for three breaths.
The keys are still in the lock, chiming.
