Page 25 of Mara
“Just kill me too.” I hung my head as he fumbled with his belt.
I stared down at the carcass on the ground.
The raindrops were clearing some of the blood splotches, and I started to see the pink of the skin underneath. It was odd to see the body of the one you loved when you were inevitably about to be killed, but this was my life, apparently.
I couldn’t hear any movement, but I couldn’t hear shit over the wind and rain—much less my own racing heart. I waited, refusing to watch as the ferret murderer defiled my body like he did my heart. Eyes closed, he was out of sight, but definitely not out of my mind.
His eyes and that damn candy skull face paint haunted my thoughts. I lost myself through the tears and the helplessness I felt. It wasn’t until I fell to the ground that I realized I was free.
Blinking, I looked forward, trying to find where the monster had gone.
It was just the forest…and the meaty flesh of my best friend surrounding me. I crawled toward Cheese, holding his dead body in my hands. A hand tapped my shoulder, and I jerked away on instinct, recoiling from the touch and trying to take off in the opposite direction.
“Mara? What are you doing out here, Nirvana?”
The words barely registered, but I caught enough of them to realize it was Jinx. He was here, standing in his black jeans, T-shirt, and bone-covered helmet.
I rubbed my eyes, the mud spreading all over my face. I didn’t even care that I was only in my fucking underwear. Jinx had his tongue inside my vagina. If he thought to comment on it, I’d rip his nuts off his body.
“Bonehead?” I said, shaking from the chill of the wind and rain.
Jinx took off his jacket and threw it over my shoulders. He pulled out his phone and typed a message into the screen.
Yeah, Nirvana. I got your text, but I’m still not understanding why you asked me to come to uh…a hunting trip?
I cringed at his words, looking away from the screen to avoid seeing anything more about hunting. I couldn’t handle it. I couldn’t even form words, and my natural response was to sign as best I could. Of course, he wouldn’t understand a word, but I had nothing else left in me.
There was a monster. He killed my Cheese. Cheese is gone. He is gone!
Jinx walked away from me, staying in my view as he moved further up into the trees. I tried to understand what he was doing, shielding my eyes from the never-ending rain.
He yelled something to me, but I didn’t understand a word. It was just a warped combination of too many damn sounds. I covered my ears. Jinx walked back to me, carrying something…a cage.
Was this an insult to injury to see an empty cage?
I let my tears fall and backed away, trying to turn my head to avoid seeing what horrors were left in the metal.
“No. No. No!” I cried, desperate to avoid seeing the fur or head of my pet.
“Is this yours?”
His voice was so close now I couldn’t avoid it. I opened my eyes, little whimpers of fear escaping my lips at how terrified I felt.
“Please. I can’t.” I sobbed, shaking my head over and over.
“Okay. Well, what do I do with this little guy? He looks cold. Maybe you can take him back to get warmed up?”
Confused, I finally looked at what was in his hands. The wire cage was holding Cheese inside, but not his severed body or fur. It was really him. I screamed and reached forward, snatching the metal from Jinx.
“Oh my god. He is alive? Cheese!”
My poor baby had blood all over his fur, but he didn’t look injured when I assessed his body. This was a cruel prank. The body and blood must have been from some sort of wildlife. It wasn’t my Cheese.
“Oh my God. Thank you. I can’t believe it. Thank you. You are my hero.”
The man I had no business liking. The cheating scumbag who lied to me and my sister…had just saved me from a monster and found the one thing that mattered to me.
I need to hate you…but…I just can’t.
