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He sits there, staring at me for a minute. I don't want to give into him. I don't want to give into the emotions he evokes in me. I glance over my shoulder, where I should be by now. Getting out of town. Hitching a ride home. To my real home. Instead, I'm standing here. With my monster. With my devil.
He sighs again, rolling up the window with a shake of his head. I can see the red glow of his headlights disappear, and he starts rolling forward.
"Wait. Wait!" I leap forward, running onto the street. He presses on his brakes, once again coming to a standstill.
I open the door, and the scent of cigarettes and Malik slap me in the face.
I sigh, settling into the seat and coming to terms with my fate. "Take me home, Malik."
26
MALIK
Take me home, Malik.
The words get me hard. So fucking hard I could bust through my uniform slacks. I want to tear her weak fishnets apart and fuck her until the insides of her thighs are raw. I want her screams to echo in the woods. I want her so fucking bad, but I hate her just as fiercely. And to me, that's a deadly combination.
I would never admit that a fraction of me was worried she'd find some way to weasel out of this town, and then I'd have the rest of the world to search for her in. She didn't get out, though. She'd be frustrated to know she walked only a few miles in over five hours. That this town plays tricks on you, and you might think you're nearing the edge, but you're only on a loop.
If you want to leave, you'll never leave.
If you have an intent of coming back, it'll let you go.
That's how it is. That's how it always has been.
Vera wants to leave so badly; I don't think this town will ever let her go. A part of me is excited at that thought, that I get to keep her for as long as I want her. And it only makes me want to strangle the shit out of my own thoughts.
I had to nearly throttle her friends to ask where she was. I knew when I saw them after school, fearful, scared, cut and bruised, without Vera, that something happened. It only took one stare and one step toward them for the witch to confess she was on her way out of town. Or her attempt to get out of town. They know the rules, too. Whether they told her how this town works or not, I'm not sure. Either way, they couldn't keep her.
And I'm the one that brought her back.
It doesn't take long, only minutes and we're pulling into the driveway. I sneak a glance over at Vera, watching as her eyes widen into saucers to know we were only a short distance from the house.
"I was this close to the fucking house? How is that possible?" she shrieks.
I ignore her, parking underneath the archway. She steals a cigarette from my pack, lighting it up as she exits the car. "This place is complete bullshit. Am I even fucking alive right now?"
I don't answer, walking in through the front door and leaving it open. She can stay in the car all night and contemplate the meaning of life if she wants, but it gets shit-ass cold at night, and I don't want to spend another minute outside.
I walk down the hall and into the kitchen, and I can instantly hear her boots stomping down the dark hallway. Stomping after me.
"This has got to be a joke. Is it a prank? Is that it? This is just another one of your pranks that you and your friends are playing on me?"
I grab a beer from the fridge, cracking the top open and tossing the top into the trash. "Shut the fuck up, Vera. This isn't a joke. I'm not playing a prank. Now quit bitching about it."
Her face screws up in pain. "You've wanted me out of here. How the hell would I have even left, if Ican'tfucking leave?" she screeches, her hands flying up in the air, her burning cigarette ashing on the ground.
I stare at it, and she stomps on the ash, smushing it into the dark tiles, growling as she takes a step toward me. "Answer me, you fucking asshole. You wanted me out of here so bad. Well, I want to go. Tell me how to get out of here."
I snap forward, my hand curling around her chin and squeezing tight. "Death, Vera. Death is the only way you can leave here," I mumble, my lips only a breath away from her.
She exhales, her shaky breath skimming across my lips. I lick them, tasting the tobacco.
I can feel the darkness chill her bones, and she steps back, gripping the counter with her shaky hand. "You want me dead? Is that it?" Her voice is cool, and I can feel the lash of anger she wants to whip at me.
I shrug, ignoring the dread thickening in the pit of my stomach. I don't care, is what I want to say. But I don't know how much truth that holds. Every day that goes by, she seems to burrow a little further beneath my skin. "I wanted you to die." I reach out, my hand grabbing onto the front of her shirt, right under her neck. I pull her close, hating her. Wanting her. Hating that I fucking want her. "I wanted to feel your heart stop. I wanted to feel your warm blood turn cold in my hands. I wanted to stare you in the eyes as you took your last breath."
She stares at me, her eyes going back and forth between mine, searching. "Wanted?"
