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Jessica pinched the bridge of her nose. “Sorry, I forgot you’re not from here. Gravespring. You know, the Grave kids?”
I knew, and the nickname for the bordering town should have been apparent to me, but I heardgrave… and well …
Jessica turned her back away from her sister and Kyrie. “They’re a fucking mess. We gotta get outta here.”
I nodded, eyes taking in the morbid stillness of our world. The bell rang for first period, and no one moved. Instead, teachers walked around the halls, comforting students and leading some to the guidance office. There would be no class that day, and no work would’ve been done if there was. The town had lost a young girl.
“They can’t call her a runaway anymore, huh?” I asked, looking at Jessica.
She nodded her head. “Billy … he’s not okay. He didn’t go to work but wouldn’t let us stay with him at home either. Said we needed to be with you guys,” she said, referencing Kyrie and me.
“Fuck,” I said, running my hands through my hair. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”
Relief flooded Jessica’s eyes. “I was thinking the same thing, but maybe we should stay? Listen in? I don’t know. Fuck.”
“Listen in on what?”
Jessica shook her head. “I don’t fucking know. What? We aren’t going to try to figure out what’s happening because she’s dead? We’ve been playing at Sherlock and Watson, but we haven’t actuallydoneanything, have we?” She looked over her shoulder at Kyrie. “She’s fucking scared. Thinks she’s next. She kept saying that until Nicole got here. She’s going to lose it. We can’t leave her alone. And her parents? If she thought they were overbearing before …”
“Yeah,” I said, not sure which way to turn, and after a beat the doors at the end of the hall burst open, and as if we conjured them—Kyrie’s parents rushed through the entrance. Kyrie looked up at the commotion and pulled away from Nicole, running down the hall.
I knew their relationship wasn’t the best, but at that moment, it was something I envied. Valerie wouldn’t be barging into the school to see if I was okay when she heard the news, if anything she would be packing a bag, ready to tell me we were leaving Hart Hollow when I got home.
Kyrie’s parents hugged her, and her father broke away, walking to Principal Garrison, who stood against the wall, watching his students. They spoke briefly before nodding in agreement. Kyrie’s father walked to his wife and daughter, leading them out of the school. Kyrie looked back at us, eyes red, pleading for something, but I couldn’t be sure what. She always spoke what she felt, what she wanted. I’d never had to read her face alone.
Nicole joined us, wiping her eyes. “Who … who could have done that? Who could have done that to a girl? Someone like us?”
Jessica grabbed her twin, pulling her close. It was the first time they seemed like sisters, or remotely alike.
I balled my fists at my side, aching for someone to tell me how to act, something to hit, or rip apart.
I’d seen death before, all in one night, a slaughter. But this was something different. This would draw attention to the small town of Hart Hollow.
Fuck.Would Valerie want to leave? To move? The fear from moments before crept in again, making me shake. We were supposed to disappear, fade into the middle of America.
I thought of Sorina and the blood. Her mangled words. If you decapitated someone, how much blood would cover you? I pushed the thought away, but it lingered. I didn’t know her. I didn’t know what she was capable of, but how she moved reminded me of a serpent. It scared me and aroused me. I hated who I was, the strange way my mind worked.
I grabbed my backpack, walking away from Nicole and Jessica. I heard Jessica call after me, but I kept going until I hit the double doors, opening them to the bright light of the morning.
The grass was still damp from the rain the night before, and the sun was out. It looked like a normal day, like any other. Except it wasn’t. A girl was dead. A girl I never knew but felt the loss of in the vibrations of the surrounding people.
I wanted to scream and howl into the sky until the night fell, the image of Amber Hughes face on the supermarket bulletin board haunting me.
I wanted to know where the fuck Valerie went that morning.
I wanted a fresh start, a new life away from the horrors of the ranch, but my life hadn’t changed in one way. I was still terrified of the women in my life.
* * *
I don’t know what I’d expected to find when I arrived at our trailer.
Valerie looking for me, concerned, like a mother figure should be?
Billy on my porch, devastated, sure this meant the same fate fell upon Sam?
Or Sorina, not covered in blood, but with an open mouth and honesty ready for me. But all of those scenarios were foolish, especially any that involved Sorina in the morning light. She was never seen that early in the morning. I wondered if she would come to afternoon classes and mourn like the rest of the students. But she couldn’t cry, could she? Would the tears be red? Blood? I grappled with myth, legend, and the omens the town seemed to be ruled by.
I didn’t know where to go. I thought about going to Diana’s, but I didn’t want to hear the same old shit.
