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“No one will look for her soon. In the morning, there will be a body. I don’t know where it’ll be, but someone will find it. And someone will take the blame.”
“A body? Why the hell aren’t we out there?” I waved my arm at her front door. “Why aren’t we stopping her from becoming nothing more than a fucking body?” I asked.
“I’m not this town, Nicholas. I’m in it, but I’m not one of them.”
“Then what the fuck are you?” I asked.
“Something like you.” She smiled. The tea kettle cried out, and she pulled it from the stove. I watched her pull two mugs from the cabinet. She set the metal balls inside each mug, then poured the water in. Finally, she brought a mug to me, setting it on the counter. “Let it sit for a moment. It’s hot.”
I nodded, watching the steam. “What arewe, then?” I asked.
Diana gripped the mug, ignoring her own warning about the temperature. Her hands didn’t seem to burn. “Beings in sheep’s clothing,” she whispered. “Me as I see fit. You—” Her eyes darted to the door, and mine followed.
I’d heard it too, and the hairs on my neck stood up. “Is someone here?” I asked.
Diana nodded but didn’t go to the door.
Her lips turned down, a frown all I could read. I shook my head, reaching for the mug. I took a sip of the hot tea, closing my eyes as it went down my throat. It calmed me immediately, and I wondered what was in it. It might have been drugged, and I took it recklessly.
These women scared me, and I wanted the company of my friends. I wanted to plan with them and figure it all out. To be coddled. I just wanted to spend time with them, fight and laugh and pretend the reason we were all together wasn’t because girls were missing and violent ends weren’t what we feared.
I set the mug down, swaying a little.
“I’m going to drive you home, Nicholas,” Diana said, her voice far away.
I could only nod.
No one knocked on the door.
* * *
Diana parked at the entrance of the trailer park so Valerie wouldn’t wake. After killing the lights, she got out of her car and walked to the passenger side. She opened the door and offered me a hand, like a snake coiled. I felt warm from the tea, my rage simmering, caged by whatever was in it.
“What did you give me?” I asked as I took her hand, stepping into the icy rain as the sky woke. I flinched at the downpour, wondering how long I had been knocked out on her couch, but Diana seemed unfazed.
“It’s just an herbal tea. You’re just very … It’s easy for you to feel it.”
“Why? Because I’m whatever the fuck you are?” I snapped, walking toward my trailer on legs that felt liquid.
“Kind of,” Diana replied, moving me along.
“Mhhmmm, okay,” I mumbled, ready for bed even though the sun would come up soon. If it meant a dreamless sleep, I’d fucking get over it and be late to school. Maybe I’d start asking Diana for tea the way I asked Sorina for a light. I was turning into the deviant Kyrie feared I’d be.
We walked around the back of the trailer to the picnic table. The sun wasn’t in the sky but a warm glow crested the surface, illuminating a white figure by the tree line. Sorina stood there, drenched from the rain, her red hair sticking to her, but I still saw the deep color in other places, similar to the color of her hair when the sun shone on it.
She was covered in blood.
Diana’s eyes flicked to the tree line, and she cursed.
I pulled away from her, stumbling to Sorina, my anger at everyone flying away as another emotion took over. Worry.
Diana followed. “Nicholas, she’s fine. We need to get you to bed.”
I ignored her, and Sorina flinched when I reached her. Her eyes were completely black. “What the fuck,” I whispered. Then, “Are you okay? What’s wrong with your eyes? Is this whatever the fuck you gave me, Diana?” I asked, reaching for my head, closing my eyes briefly before looking back at Sorina. She looked the same. Like a wraith.
“What did you give him?” Sorina asked—black eyes unblinking.
Diana was next to us, arms crossed. “Just some fucking tea, but he’s a goddamn sponge.”
