Page 92 of Our Little Monster
She couldn’t be another ghost in a place already filled with them. I wouldn’t allow it.
I plunged forward, the crackling fire a mere arm’s length away, making each step a battle. The smoke stole the oxygen from my lungs. But I pushed on, dragging Mickey’s body with me. I could see the back door in the short distance, and the sight made me move faster.
With a strength borne of desperation, I shouldered it open and stumbled out into the night, the cool air hitting me like a reassuring wave.
“Serina!” came a shout, muffled and distant over the ringing in my ears. But I couldn’t respond, my throat raw, my body succumbing to the exhaustion and the smoke that had filled it.
“I’m here,” I managed to gasp, my voice no more than a hoarse whisper. Each word felt like sandpaper against my vocal cords. My legs wobbled beneath me as I staggered forward, collapsing next to Mickey.
My lungs heaved for clean air while Mickey lay unmoving beside me. The world seemed to slow, the sounds of chaos dulling into a muffled roar.
Then they were there—Bastian, Thorne, Nox.
Another explosion boomed from within Mickey’s Diner. A hot surge of grief welled up inside me, thick and suffocating.
The booth—our booth, tucked in the corner of Mickey’s, where Dad would tell jokes over milkshakes and Mom would laugh, her eyes sparkling like the stars above, it held the remnants of all I had left of them.
“No,” I croaked, the word barely more than a rasp.
Desperation clawed at me, urging me to stand, to run back into the blaze to retrieve what little I had left of them.
But my body betrayed me, too weak, too smoke-ridden.
“The booth… the booth.” The words tumbled out, choked by tears that streamed down my cheeks, mingling with the soot that stained my skin.
The last thing I saw before darkness took me was the fire reaching skyward, an orange beast claiming the last piece of everything I loved. And then, nothing but black.
30
Serina
Consciousnessslowlycreptin,and I blinked against the soft blur of a dark room.
“Serina, hey,”Mickey’s voice cut through the haze, warm and steady.“There she is. Rise and shine.”
The sight of her, hair tousled, a bruise blooming on her temple, made my heart clench. Before I could finish processing everything, I jolted upright and flung my arms around her.
“Easy there,”she chuckled, returning my embrace.“You’re gonna make my head spin more than it already is.”
I tried to laugh, but it caught in my throat, the sound strangled by relief.
Bastian stood silently by the window, his broad shoulders casting a long shadow across the floor. His gaze held a quiet sort of vigilance. Nox leaned casually against the wall, his blue eyes looking bright being caught by the dim lighting. Thorne was leaned against the doorframe.
They exchanged looks amongst themselves, a wordless conversation passing between them, before they filed out of the room, leaving Mickey and me alone.
“Your company looks a bit different lately,”Mickey observed after a moment, her tone light but probing.
“It’s… complicated,”was an understatement. The truth was I had fallen in love with three Vampires.
Mickey hummed in response, her fingers idly picking at the frayed edge of the blanket.“Complicated seems to be our normal. Remember when the biggest worry we had was sneaking out past your curfew without getting caught by your parents?”she said, her eyes glazed over at the memory.
“Seems like another lifetime,”I agreed, my smile tinged with the same wistfulness.
We shared a look, an unspoken acknowledgment of all the roads we’d traveled since then, the trials we’d faced, the losses we had.
“Hey,”she said softly, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze.“I’m just glad you have company at all. I thought we lost you for a while there.”
“Lost me?”I frowned slightly.
