Page 70 of Rest In Knotty Pieces

A monster.

A girl.

What was so bad that I forgot about it?

The game continues and finishes, but I stand by the tree, ignoring everyone, trying to decide what to do. In the end, the temptation of the pack is too much. I want a new life. I have fragments, they barely feel real.

I’ll push it all aside, find a life, heal. No one would begrudge me that?

And if I have nightmares, more of them…then they’ll chase them away until I forget what I’m scared of. Until I forget who I am.

I turn back, and when Rolly comes close, I don’t have to fake the smile.

“Want to learn how to start fires?”

A flash of flames billowing into the sky. There are bodies burning. Or are they just logs?

I nod my head.

“Come, my lovely pupil, let the talented Rolly show you his expert skills. You will be amazed.”

We walk side by side, after a moment, I reach up, wrapping my fingers around his. He pulls my arm around his, dragging me into his orbit and away from the darkness.

King

They’ve gone, and I am relieved. It was too crowded, and I can see that Merle’s struggling with her memories. I’m not sure if it’s because she feels safe or because she feels threatened. But she’s pale and is struggling to hold down her food. Her sleep is disrupted and almost non-existent. She keeps sneaking out of the tent at night, thinking she’s being so crafty, not realising that we’re all awake, listening for anything she might need from us.

The issue isn’t coming from her exactly, though perhaps she is a catalyst. It’s Roseland and Pix. The two of them are skating further and further away from us. Roseland is on the verge of leaving. He’s shut the door on us.

Pix, too, has given up. His eyes flash with want, with pain, but he’s been using the Prince Pack as a shield to keep his distance from us.

Now it’s just us. The darkness has descended; she’s asleep in Blaze’s arms, where I know she’s safe, so I roll to my feet and slip out of the tent, deliberately going in hunt of the two that are causing the mayhem.

I find them together.

I almost wish they were kissing. Or fucking.

Instead, Pix has his hand around Roseland’s throat, and he’s crying. I can see the tears glinting on his cheeks.

“You can’t leave me.”

“It was never going to work out between us. You know that. You are you, and I am me. There’s nothing that could change that. We are fundamentally different people.”

“You don’t mean that,” Pix whispers. “Please, Roseland.”

Roseland grabs Pix’s fingers and peels them off his neck. “You need to let go. Get a grip and realise that I’m not the one.”

Pix stands there shuddering, and there’s something about him being so broken in the moonlight that breaks something inside of me.

He whirls and disappears, vanishing into the dark forest, where I’d have no hope of finding him.

“You’re leaving?” I say in a growl.

“Yes, tonight.”

“Can’t you stay a while longer?”

Roseland turns, and I see the cold, hard mask of the detective. “No, I’ve been gone too long. I need to return to my job. My purpose.”