Page 9 of Haunt

Of all the questions she must have, the confusion she must feel. All of the things I’m not saying. She doesn’t speak any of it.

“Will we stay together, Billy?” is all she asks.

My lips really curl then, transforming themselves into something truly monstrous.

“From now on,” I whisper over her mouth, our noses touching, my eyes on hers, despite the blackness cloaking her, I know she is looking at me, “Even in death.”

“It’s really you,” she murmurs breathlessly, it is not a question, but there is disbelief in her tone. And then a nervous, quiet, “Billy?”

“Yes?” I groan the response, a pull deep in my gut at hearing my name on her tongue.

“There is a man beneath my bed,” she confesses, voice small.

I huff a laugh, her breathing picks up and I am compelled closer, not stopping until the tip of my nose rests along the length of hers. Inhaling her. Her scent the only thing I can focus on, earth and roses.

“Mmhmm,” I hum against the apple of her cheek, the vibration thrumming through the bone. “It’s not the first time. Is it, Nellie?”

She sways a little, my body still pinning her to the wall, holding her in place. I slide my hand to the front of her neck. Feel her swallow beneath my palm, my thumb on her pulse, fingers collaring her throat.

“It’s okay,” I hush against her lips, her breaths fast and sharp against my mouth. “I will take care of you now.” It is only half a lie. “We can sort this. Make him disappear.” She swallows again, throat rolling beneath my hand. “You going to help me, Little Lamb?” her throat bobs, neck straining with her attempt at a nod.

“Yes, Billy.”

“Good girl.”

My head spins as Billy slips back inside my room.

He has been gone no longer than ten minutes and I have not moved a toe out of place since he did. I am unsure if my mind even circled through questions on what is happening. If it did, I am none the wiser in any conclusions it possibly came to.

A black duffle bag in one hand, the other splayed over the wood of the door, Billy lets it close softly at his back. There are so many stairs to get up here, but he does not seem out of breath, as though he never used them at all. Perhaps he didn’t, perhaps he unfurled godlike wings and travelled up and down them that way. Nothing would surprise me tonight.

His dark brown hair sticks straight up all over his head, the long length of afro curls pointing in a million different directions, making him appear even taller than his –what must be- six and a half feet.

Beneath the swaying glow of orange candlelight, the wick of which he re-lit before he disappeared to‘get something’. His warm skin appears sallow. The shadowed hollows of his cheeks carve his face like a skeleton. His lips plump, dark, the top a little larger than the bottom gifting him an unusual pout. Light eyes, more grey than blue, watch me where I stand. Hands clasped before me, fingers squeezing tight, laced and hooked together. I lock my elbows, putting a strain on my shoulders and watch as he stalks towards me.

Those unnervingly pale eyes stay locked on mine. I feel cold. Hot. Scared. Excited. Nervous and happy and confused. Everything and nothing. My stomach feels as heavy as it does hollow, my head light but full. I wish I knew where he has been. Why he did not come back for me. Why he has now.

However, I fear I am too afraid of the answers to even contemplate wanting to hear them.

He could lie.

In the same way as I.

But I also worry he would tell me a truth I do not wish to learn.

And so I stay silent.

Wanting only to exist in this space,with him.

Watching as he places the bag down on the end of my cot, its contents clinking like metal on metal as he does. A crease forms between my brows, my gaze finally shifts, lowering from Billy’s to the bag. My heart races in my chest, a rapid pulse of excitement.

“What’s that?” I ask quietly, everything in my body on high alert.

Danger receptors running wild. I feel like my heart could explode out of my chest cavity at any second. I am unsure, fully, if this is even really happening.

Is anything real?

Billy cocks his head slightly, eyes rolling down my baggy nightdress, stopping at my bare feet. A small smile tugs his lips, I see the half-shadowed movement just before he smothers it, lifting his eyes back to mine.

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