Page 77 of Moth
And Branden’s.
I don’t know why I’ve kept it all this time, hiding in plain sight even while I lived in my brother’s house. Out of guilt? Regret?
Or maybe revenge? The vain hope that one day I’d be brave enough to spark that fire. Let it burn…
Instead, I do what I’ve always done in the end and return the bracelet to the box. Closing it, I shove the whole thing back into its hiding place.
My head feels heavy as I re-enter my living room, grab my bag from near the door, and find my pen. My journal. After flipping to a blank page, I start writing, losing myself in the swirls of ink gliding across the page.
Nothing else matters. Not the time dangerously inching toward when I need to be at the bookstore. Not the ache in my chest or the cramp in my hand that makes scribbling the next few lines a struggle.
The only occurrence capable of breaking through the impulsive trance is the thud of a fist pounding against my door. I jump so violently, my journal skids across the floor. My throat dries as my pulse surges.
Branden?
No.He wouldn’t knock. When I finally creep to the door, I feel my nostrils flare, testing the air. Cloying cologne tickles my nose, and when I open the door, the man on the other side is only vaguely familiar. A figure I last interacted with the day I moved in.
“Hey,” the man, the building’s landlord, says. “You sure you gonna be out by the end of the month?”
The words seem to take an eternity to register.The end of the month.
“I’ve already got a tenant lined up for the place, so I’m gonna need you to give me notice when you’re out if you want your deposit back. Got it?”
Somehow, I manage to nod, and he grunts, turning away. “You must be in some hurry to leave, girlie. I’ve never had anyone pay out a full year’s rent just to get out of a lease.”
He makes it sound amusing.
But it’s not. His incredulous laughter is the sound of my fragile wings being clipped, one by one. I’m not like Rafe’s invincible dragon. I’m just a pathetic moth, incapable of breathing fire to protect itself.
And where does such an insect inevitably end up?
Crushed underfoot.
