Page 119 of Heathens

I’m almost on top of her.

Still breathing, drooling blood.

She’s sleeping.

She has everything I need.

I can almost feel it rushing through her body, reaching out to me.

It can be mine.

Itismine.

But then there’s a shout, panicked.

I hear something clatter across the floor. My leg brushes against it as I drag myself those final few feet. Rene’s voice fills the room again, along with so many other sounds.

I don’t even look, but it wouldn’t matter if I did. Everything is a blur of color, out of focus and twisted. Everything except Ruby. She’s practically pulsing with new life.

My new life.

I run my tongue absentmindedly across my teeth, tracing the new shape of my fangs. They’re so sharp I feel like I could tear through anything. Or anyone.

She whimpers as I pull myself on top of her, barely able to struggle as I lean in toward her neck. But then something breaks through the haze.

“I’m going to tie your pretty little girlfriend to your bed and fuck her until she’s nothing but a broken little doll.”

Every part of me freezes, stuck in place as my instincts scream at me to tear everything Ruby has away. To make it mine.

But I’m not an animal, and I’m not a toy.

I’m not going to be a fucking prisoner.

I’m not playing this fucking game all over again.

I feel the entire world come into focus as I turn. Rene is crouched down in front of Dominic, who’s covered in blood, one of his arms crushed like a squashed tube of toothpaste.

I look back down at Ruby and blink.

How did I get here?

Rene’s hand rests just below Dominic’s chin, tipping it upward, and that’s when I see it: my gun, just a few feet away. Quietly, I slide down until I’m lying on my side, my fingertips stretching out further and further as I push myself along the floor, all while keeping my eyes on him. It’s hard to move, and it’s even harder to do it silently. Every muscle and bone in my body burns, each one feeling like I haven’t used them in decades.

Dominic’s screams fill the room and I panic, my whole body shaking as I give it one final push and my fingertips reach for the gun. I pull it toward me, checking the chamber as I hear Rene’s words.

“At least you’ll look exquisite mounted on my wall.”

With both hands, I take aim, just as he grasps Dominic’s head and begins to pull. The sound of bone cracking and muscle tearing fills the room, along with a vicious scream of pain. My arms are trembling, and I can barely hold myself together.

I squeeze the trigger and the gun goes off, the bullet whizzing into Rene’s arm and leaving a large crimson gash in his sleeve. I smell iron and scorched flesh, gagging as I drop the gun. My senses are heightened. Colors are brighter, smells are more intense. I can hear the creaks in the building all the way down to the basement.

It’s torturous.

Rene’s head whips around, the sneer on his lips looking even more disgusting due to his half-ruined jaw. Dominic is slumped on the floor, head turned to face me. Staring. Anguished.

I’m sorry,he mouths.

Rene turns back to Dominic, leaning down and whispering something so soft that I can’t make it out. He stands, towering over the carnage that he’s inflicted.

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