Page 377 of Eternal
He opened the passenger door and sat me down. Buckled me in like I was glass.
Then he opened the trunk.
I watched through the windshield, chest still rising too fast, as he pulled out two red gas canisters. No words. No hesitation.
He walked back in.
The whole building lit up less than two minutes later. Orange. Violent.Final.
He came back to the car, and started the engine.
“Let’s go home.”
Yes.Home.
104
DAMIR
“Heaven Up Here” by Palace
Present
Her steps were slow. Off. Like the blood on her hands weighed more than the rest of her body.
The house was quiet.
The irises on the kitchen table looked back at her.
She stared at them like they might say something.
I locked the door behind us. She stood in the hallway, frozen, swaying slightly like her body hadn’t caught up to itself yet.
I stepped in close and eased the jacket from her shoulders. It slid to the floor with a wet crackle, dried blood pulling at the lining. Her dress clung to her, ruined silk stuck to her skin, soaked through in too many places.
I didn’t flinch. I never did with her.
“Arms up,” I murmured.
She did, wordless. Like her body remembered how.
I pulled the dress over her head slowly. Blood had dried at the hem, sticking to her thighs. The motion peeled it off her skin. She wore only her underwear underneath.
The thigh holster was still strapped tight on her right leg, the blade missing.
Her knees buckled halfway through the movement. I caught her without a sound. One arm under her back, the other beneath her knees.
She let her head drop against my chest, breathing shallow and warm against my collarbone.
I carried her to the bathroom. Set her down gently on the toilet lid. She stared down at the tiled floor like it might open up and swallow her whole.
I knelt.
Undid the straps of the holster with steady fingers, pulled it off and tossed it into the sink.
I peeled off her underwear next. Moved slowly, letting her lift her hips slightly.
She didn’t look at me. Didn’t speak.
