Page 296 of Primal

Chapter Nineteen

Dirt in my teeth. Blood on fire.

The mask’s fused to my face—sweat-crusted, reeking of iron, the cheap plastic grafting itself into bone. Don’t remember strapping it back on. Don’t remember much except—

The gothic script on the trailer now reads—HTLIF RUOY ESNAELC.

Fucking performance piece. Whoever’s behind this wants screams. Blood. Wants Payton on her knees—raw, trembling.

That thing in the mirror. If it was real … means he’s got backup.

I lurch onto my hands and knees.

Trees twist. Leaves aren’t leaves anymore. Snouts.

‘Hey, kiddo.’

Dad’s voice. Clear as day. I whirl around—

Nothing but a rotting log.

My skull splits open like a can opener’s gone to work from the inside out.

Dad’s hands over mine around the rod. ‘Steady, son. Bass don’t bite on panic.’ He’d hum Born in the USA. Off-key.

The sun was always too bright on the pier. Hot dogs. Laughing kids. Gulls.

Then came the tug on my line.

Dad always knew how to hook a bass, reel it in. Let its momentum carry it to us—because it never struggled once it got close.

‘Aim for the back of the throat,’ he’d murmur.

His thumb pressed over mine on the handle. Steady pressure. No mercy.

Max at seven, shoving his ice cream cone into my palm because I always gave him the cherry. ‘You can have mine. It’s got sprinkles.’

Mom before the crash, swaying by the kitchen sink, vodka bottle glinting. ‘You look just like him.’ The way she said ‘him’—like Dad’s name was a roach she found in her drink.

Robert’s belt buckle clinking as he loomed over Max. Me in the garage later, sharpening Dad’s hunting knife. Robert’s voice through the wall: ‘You tell anyone, I’ll—’

He never struggled. Not once I got close. And I knew exactly where to aim.

Payton’s teeth at my earlobe. ‘Fuck me like you mean it, Ghostface.’

Her nails in my shoulders. Trying to anchor herself. Or me.

What if it was her?

What if the monster was always inside—and tonight, she freed him?

Something between the trees. Porcine snout. Black eyes.

I lunge. My fist connects with bark. Skin splits. Pain flares bright and clean through the haze.

Real.

I suck in a breath.