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I use the toe of my boot and nudge her ribs. She lolls to the side, but she doesn't wake. Her body doesn't twitch.
What happened to you?
Getting the sense of someone watching me, I don't even glance over my shoulder. I bend down, curling my arms beneath her neck and legs, lifting her into my arms.
Walking out, I don't even close the door. It'll close itself.
I stomp through the forest, making my way back to the house. I use my elbow to push on the handle of the front door, kicking it closed behind me. I don't slide my shoes off, walking up the stairs and straight into her room. My shoes are noisy on the tiles, the only sound filling the quiet house.
She still hasn't woken up.
I lay her on the bed, more gently than she deserves. Her blonde-and-black hair fans out along her pillow, the strands messy and worn out. Whatever happened to her was rough. A slice, almost like a fingernail, or a knife, is cut straight into her cheek. A drip of dried blood coats her skin, like she never had the time to wipe it away.
My chest pulls, aches a bit in the center. With a scowl, I frown at her and walk out. I hate her, and I hate that she drags any sort of emotion from me. I don't even want to hate her. I want to feel nothing.
I want her to be as useless as the pine needles that fall from the trees.
But she isn't.
There's… something, and I refuse to give it a second thought.
I pull my boots off once I get to my room, shrugging my jacket off and leaving it at the foot of my bed. Falling onto my mattress, I lay my arm over my eyes.
And finally,finally,get some sleep.
"I'll just fucking meet you there," I growl into the phone.
"Why won't you pick me up?" Thea whines, and I grind my teeth together.
She doesn't know I saw her exchange yesterday at school with Vera. She's lucky I didn't see her after that, because I might have snapped her neck.
Vera isn't her toy to play with. She's mine.
"I've got shit to do." I pull my boots on, running my fingers through my hair for the millionth time.
I'm stressed today. I haven't seen Vera. Not once. I figured I'd wake up to her breathing over me as I slept, a knife clutched between her fingers, ready to plunge into my chest.
She never came.
I know she's awake, though, because I heard the bathroom door close.
All day. She's had all damn day and she hasn't once come to question me. Why? Doesn't she have any questions? Doesn't she want to cuss me out? Fucking maim me?
"But, Malik—" Thea snaps me out of my thoughts with her persistent whining.
"Thea. Shut the fuck up. I'm not picking you up. Walk for all I care. I guess I'll see you if I see you." I hang up my phone, shoving it into my pocket and walking out of my room.
I tell myself I'm not going to talk to Vera. I'm not going to go linger in her doorway, or even fucking think about her. But my feet have a mind of their own, and I turn left, walking straight into her room.
Her door is fucking open.
Her door isneveropen.
She lies in her bed, curled into a fetal position as she faces the window. I walk around the foot of the bed, standing at the edge.
She's not sleeping. She's not blinking.
She's just staring.
