drunker than I really was a moment ago. I stumble, and Felix catches me with his arm.
“Are you okay?” He asks. I laugh.
“No. But I’m getting better.” I look to Grace and motion to Felix over the heads of the crowd. Grace nods, and holds up her cellphone to let me know to text her when I get back. I grab Felix’s arm and start out the door.
“I think I need to lie down. Can you help me get back to the –”
There’s a bright yellow flash as I look directly at the lamppost, and I can’t feel my legs anymore. There’s the sensation of someone picking me up – Felix – and walking steadily to the hotel. Snow crunches under his feet. He stops to rest a few times. And then everything goes dark around the edges, and I fall into a deep pit of sleep.
I wake up off and on, pieces and fragments of reality seeping into my senses. Kiera. Darkness. Felix. Arguing. Darkness. The sound of tearing foil. Darkness.
And then there’s no more darkness. It’s morning.
And then there’s Lee’s face, pale and furious but relieved and tender beneath it all, staring back at me.
***
LEE
***
When I wake up the next morning, Kiera's got a black eye.
I quirk a brow as she comes out of the shower. I didn't hear her get in last night, so she must've come back late. Not that I care - her out of the bed means I get it to myself without her grabby hands all over me. I spent the night in other ways - more self-satisfying ways without her tainted, warped version of love spread over it. It was the nicest night I've had in weeks.
"Did you get punched out?" I ask. Kiera towels off her hair and throws a glower my way.
"What does it look like?"
"It looks like you finally got what was coming to you," I say evenly. I expect Kiera to internalize it in her deadly calm, bitter way. She does, but something about her smile is wrong. Something is wrong with the way she looks at me, and it's sending chills down my spine in all the worst ways. She slowly dresses, always thinking it somehow turns me on to see her go from naked to clothed. Vain. She's Vain and self-conceited but I still don't like this new turn of emotion. I've never seen her with a black-eye, or this gloatingly happy.
"You'll get what's coming to you too, Lee. Today, actually. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did."
With that cryptic statement, she grabs her purse, one of her ridiculously puffy jackets, and leaves. The hotel door clinks closed heavily behind her, and I'm left with the silence, the snow outside my window, and the looming sense of dread rapidly ballooning in my stomach. She'd planned something. She'd executed it. And all she had left was to see my response, no, my pain. That's what she lives for. She feeds on it like a succubus, and that satiated smile she gave me can only mean one thing - she recently fed very, very well.
I quickly get out of bed and throw on some clothes. I have to check on Rose. As long as she's alright -
When I throw open the door, I see the envelope lying in front of it. Someone must've just dropped it here. It just says one word on the front in plain black text; Lee.
Warily, I pick it up and take it back inside. I tear it open, and the sight of what's inside leaves me cold down to my fingertips almost instantly.
Rose.
Except she has no clothes on – she’s completely naked, and tangled up in bed sheets that look very familiar. A cold and deadly calm seeps into me. My rage is so hot it instantly cools over into white fire, and I quickly switch from anger to calculated revenge. What sick son of a bitch took these of her, and how fast can I find him and, most importantly, tear his balls from between his legs?
She's sleeping in the picture. The bed sheets are exactly the same ones we have in our room, the same every room in this hotel has. But it's not her room - Grace said they have two twin beds, and the one she's in is a queen. And the most incriminating evidence of all is the condom wrappers spread about the sheet. Each
“Are you okay?” He asks. I laugh.
“No. But I’m getting better.” I look to Grace and motion to Felix over the heads of the crowd. Grace nods, and holds up her cellphone to let me know to text her when I get back. I grab Felix’s arm and start out the door.
“I think I need to lie down. Can you help me get back to the –”
There’s a bright yellow flash as I look directly at the lamppost, and I can’t feel my legs anymore. There’s the sensation of someone picking me up – Felix – and walking steadily to the hotel. Snow crunches under his feet. He stops to rest a few times. And then everything goes dark around the edges, and I fall into a deep pit of sleep.
I wake up off and on, pieces and fragments of reality seeping into my senses. Kiera. Darkness. Felix. Arguing. Darkness. The sound of tearing foil. Darkness.
And then there’s no more darkness. It’s morning.
And then there’s Lee’s face, pale and furious but relieved and tender beneath it all, staring back at me.
***
LEE
***
When I wake up the next morning, Kiera's got a black eye.
I quirk a brow as she comes out of the shower. I didn't hear her get in last night, so she must've come back late. Not that I care - her out of the bed means I get it to myself without her grabby hands all over me. I spent the night in other ways - more self-satisfying ways without her tainted, warped version of love spread over it. It was the nicest night I've had in weeks.
"Did you get punched out?" I ask. Kiera towels off her hair and throws a glower my way.
"What does it look like?"
"It looks like you finally got what was coming to you," I say evenly. I expect Kiera to internalize it in her deadly calm, bitter way. She does, but something about her smile is wrong. Something is wrong with the way she looks at me, and it's sending chills down my spine in all the worst ways. She slowly dresses, always thinking it somehow turns me on to see her go from naked to clothed. Vain. She's Vain and self-conceited but I still don't like this new turn of emotion. I've never seen her with a black-eye, or this gloatingly happy.
"You'll get what's coming to you too, Lee. Today, actually. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did."
With that cryptic statement, she grabs her purse, one of her ridiculously puffy jackets, and leaves. The hotel door clinks closed heavily behind her, and I'm left with the silence, the snow outside my window, and the looming sense of dread rapidly ballooning in my stomach. She'd planned something. She'd executed it. And all she had left was to see my response, no, my pain. That's what she lives for. She feeds on it like a succubus, and that satiated smile she gave me can only mean one thing - she recently fed very, very well.
I quickly get out of bed and throw on some clothes. I have to check on Rose. As long as she's alright -
When I throw open the door, I see the envelope lying in front of it. Someone must've just dropped it here. It just says one word on the front in plain black text; Lee.
Warily, I pick it up and take it back inside. I tear it open, and the sight of what's inside leaves me cold down to my fingertips almost instantly.
Rose.
Except she has no clothes on – she’s completely naked, and tangled up in bed sheets that look very familiar. A cold and deadly calm seeps into me. My rage is so hot it instantly cools over into white fire, and I quickly switch from anger to calculated revenge. What sick son of a bitch took these of her, and how fast can I find him and, most importantly, tear his balls from between his legs?
She's sleeping in the picture. The bed sheets are exactly the same ones we have in our room, the same every room in this hotel has. But it's not her room - Grace said they have two twin beds, and the one she's in is a queen. And the most incriminating evidence of all is the condom wrappers spread about the sheet. Each
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