Page 26 of Hunted By Fae
There’s just one more thing that’d make this moment a halfway decent celebration of my birthday.
The bag strap is slung over my shoulder, but the weight of the bag itself is nestled on my lap, right between my spread thighs. I fish around in it, knuckles grazing a can of mace, the cold kiss of a cell without any internet or signal, until I touch the smooth gloss of a lighter.
The bag jangles as I tug it out, then lure out a slender menthol cigarette from the side pocket.
Everything feels so monotonous, like every movement and breath is robotic in a way.
I light the cig, nestle it between my lips, then shove the lighter back into the bag.
The smoke billows out of my mouth as I lift my gaze to the Pacific Ocean.
Boulders disturb the shallows. Rocks protrude from the calm ripples. It’s actually really fucking beautiful.
I should have paid more attention.
I should have cared more.
But I didn’t.
Now, it’s slipping away from me.
How many days are left before the darkness takes hold completely?
The radio broadcasts estimate a few days.
But who’s to say it won’t speed up, or even slow down again? Maybe recede back to whatever holes it came from?
That’s what they say.
It came from holes. Holes in the earth, hollows in trees, small cave openings—
That ache.
That fucking ache in my chest.
I flatten a hand to my breastbone and press, firm, as if to crush the icy sensation out of me.
The deep inhale of the cigarette floods my lungs. I release the smoke with a choked cough.
The chesty sound of my coughing fit merges with the crashing song of water washing over the shore, all theway up to my boots. It’s a blended song that muffles the radio.
That fucking radio.
Ican’twith that radio. Not anymore.
A week of this shit.
A week of the same transmissions over and over and over, all day, all night. It’s never off.
If Ruby isn’t guarding it, then Louise is.
They take turns sleeping in the driver’s seat. The only ones of the group who can drive a manual. A ‘stick shift’, as Dad likes to call it.
But since it’s only Louise and Ruby who can drive the camper, and they have both taken to guarding the radio ever since Ramona tried to rip it out in a fit, I can’t get close enough to destroy it.
Shouldn’t get too fussed about it.
Transmissions will go down soon.
