Page 14 of Strangled
What did I do? The thought unsettles me as I rush from the room, a dulltap, tap, tap,following me on my way.
SIX
Iswallow again, the taste of him stuck on my tongue. It doesn’t taste like mine, but I like it. It’s different—and I want to taste it again.
My throat hurts considerably, and the vomit staining the floor to my left devours any good air I have left. I rise to my feet, ignoring the ache in my kneecaps from them pressing so deeply into the uneven wood.
My foot catches on a limb, and I look down at the unconscious man at my feet. Blood trickles from his head, dripping onto the floor slowly. A grin slowly tugs at my lips as I crouch down in front of him and swipe the blood from his eyebrow. I bring it closer to my face to examine it, but it’s far too dark.
Living in my walls, I’ve grown accustomed to the darkness. I can see far more clearly than I ever used to be able to but not as well as I wish. That’s one thing about my friends that I envy deeply.
The man groans when I push into his wound again, making my teeth set on edge. I lean over to grab his wrist and slowly drag us through the wall’s cavity space. After a few short minutes, I reach the closest opening to the hallway.
My heart jumps into my throat as I think about stepping out there, where anyone could see me. Normally, I wouldn’t think twice, but my stranger brought all these people here.
I’ve never seen so many at once.
But as my eyes drop back to the man I’m holding onto, the thought doesn’t seem quite as alarming—not with the compulsion to make him one with my house after what he did.
I step out, my eyes darting around the open space. I feel like I can breathe with the new wave of fresh air. It fills my lungs, making me feel rejuvenated as I start dragging his body across the floor.
Just as I reach for the string I have tucked away out of sight, a voice makes me hesitate, my hand still in the air, reaching, grasping at air.
“Nice costume, dude,” someone slurs before a door slams, and it’s gone as quickly as it appeared. I look down at my arms on instinct, at the scars marred into my flesh. A wave of humiliation flushes over me, warming my face and making my skin tingle in awareness.
I fight the unfamiliar feeling, gritting my teeth as I yank the ladder down. Flashes of memories flare up at the forefront of my mind as I throw the man over my shoulder and clamber up the ladder with newfound resolution.
Dust and cobwebs welcome me home as I crawl around my room. I leave the man unconscious in the middle of the floor where I dropped him as I prepare, dragging the plastic out from the corner. It smells new—a startling difference from the comforting rot and decay I surround myself with.
Before I first laid eyes on my stranger, I hadn’t left my house in a very long time. But food was running low, and the eventuality was sitting on the precipice.
But after I saw him, after I knew he was coming back, I couldn’t get the thought out of my head.
When I rid myself of Mom and Dad, I had to do it quickly. I was terrified if I didn’t, I never would have been able to, so I locked them in a room and sliced them until they were gaping and bleeding from every crevice.
Now, though, my stranger has sparked something anew in me. I always thought the only thing I needed was my house, to live alone with my friends—it’s all I everneeded.
But he changed something in me—or should I say, brought something back to me.Wantclings to me, eager and craving death and damnation, to paralyze the likes of these disrupting humans and make them one with my house.
To finally be alone with my stranger. Forever.
Clinging to the promise of having him endlessly, I unbind the plastic from its bundle and roll it across the room, keeping the start of it near the man to make things easier.
I press my fingers against the gash on his head, watching as more blood trickles out, staining my floor. With a flash of anger, I wrap my fingers around his neck and squeeze. The muscles and tendons compress under my grip, but before I can get carried away, I force my hands to unclench. He wheezes, shuddering as the chill of my room seeps into his partially-clothed body.
As I stare at him, my chest heaving and hands twitching, I replay what he did.
His lips are pressed against my strangers. He’s sloppy, licking his face and biting at him as he pulls him into the room. The door slams shut, and they disappear.
I scramble to find another hole, my heart hammering in my chest with Lyken no longer in my sight.
Someone else’s hands are all over him, touchingmystranger.
And now, I’m going to paralyze him.
I take a deep breath, a calm washing over me as I wrap the plastic around his body. Inch by inch, foot by foot, I cover him, starting at his feet and working my way up.
I roll him as I work, making sure there’s not an inch in between each layer. Every few feet, I stop and pull the plastic wrap towards myself, cinching it as tight as I can.
