AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I swallow roughly, my mouth dry. I brush a tear from her cheek, my hand shaking, my fingers already battered and bruised.
“You saved me, Goldie,” I rasp, my chest, my soul, my heart, shifting, swelling, with so much love for this girl, my knees buckle. “You picked me.”
A sob leaves her. “There was never a choice.” She shakes her head. “It was always you.”
Before I can do anything, say anything, a voice fills the quiet room, making me jump. I shove Eve behind me and turn to face the new threat.
“What the hell happened here?” Deputy Tanner asks, his face as white as a sheet. His eyes flit from me, to Eve, to Isaac and slowly, so fucking slowly, his hand slides to his gun.
Without thinking, without pausing, I step forward.
“I did it.” I look back, my eyes landing on Eve and I swallow thickly, taking her in, memorizing her, committing every inch of my perfect, sweet Goldie to memory. I trace her cheek, her jaw, her lips.
“I will love you,” I whisper, “until my heart stops beating.” My fingers slide down her body, finding her hand. My pinky tangles with hers. “And I never break my promises.”
“Wh—what?” She stumbles forward, but I ignore her, turning back to Paul just as sirens begin to fill the air. My finger never leaves hers and I hold it, keep it, use it to anchor myself.
“It was me.” I release a slow breath, knowing with certainty that this, this one last act of love, is the best one I’ll ever make. “I killed my father.”
A heavy silence fills the room, barely broken up by the sound of cardboard flaps folding as I close the last of the boxes. Everything I so meticulously wrapped in thick layers of newspaper and tucked tightly away in boxes feel like nothing but distant memories. Like these items weren’t my own, like I’m a stranger in the home that housed me for nearly a decade.
Caged me.
The absence of my family feels palpable here, their ghosts lingering around me. Even if Daddy was buried in Haven, his spirit walked these halls. He was always here with us, and I like to think he was with Mama on her last day, too. I choose to believe he held her hand as she drifted away into the afterlife.
I want to believe she wasn’t scared and alone. I want to believe Daddy was holding her, soothing her, telling her it wasn’t so bad to die.
That’s the only way I can cope with it.
A sick part of me likes to think that he was there with Isaac, too. But instead of bringing him any peace, any comfort, he made it worse. He forced him to hold onto life just a bit longer, just so he could suffer. And then, he walked with his soul to Hell and Daddy waved, smiling triumphantly, because in the end, good always wins.
Just like he always told me.
With a deep breath, I look around the kitchen a final time. The bare floors are bathed with golden light, the house looking so big without anything in it.
No more kitchen table marked from the embers of a cigarette.
No more leather chair rearranged to look out over the entire house.
No more couch with possum pee on it.
No more hallway with a cracked mirror.
No more peach pie.
No more sweet tea.
No more nights surrounded by a Schmorgus board of Divinity Falls’ best restaurants.
No more…
Anything.
Nothing.
It’s empty.
It’s all gone.
