Page 31 of Lonely
Crows had squabbled on the lawn, tearing strips of flesh from a fresh carcass.
A carcass small enough to be a field mouse this time.
I couldn’t wait to see him again.
And now that he was here, slouching in his chair and looking more tired than usual, I had to keep myself in check. I couldn’t let him see how eager I was.
I didn’t want him to know how much I’d missed him.
“You refused your medication again,” I said, breaking the silence. “Have you learned nothing, Carter? You get locked away if you don’t follow the rules.”
“Why don’t you just go fuck yourself,” he spat, legs spread wide like he owned the place. But this was my office. I was in charge here.
Even so, my heart quickened, because I’d missed that fire in his eyes. Group therapy had been the same old boring shit without his jiggling knee and that hard, bitter glare.
“You’re angry,” I noted, shifting in my seat as the chair creaked beneath me.
He scoffed and then shook his head before he looked out the window.
Dismissed.
“Do you want to get better, Carter?” I asked, circling my thumbs. “Do you want a life outside these walls?”
He turned back slowly, his stormy eyes locking onto mine. “I want you and every fucker in here to die.” His voice, like his gaze, held no inflection.
We stared at each other. I touched my tongue to the roof of my mouth, watching as he tapped his knuckles on the armrest.
“Did Andersen touch you?” I asked, studying him.
My colleague, like me, had his vices.
Carter’s knee jiggled restlessly.
I looked away as a foul taste rose in my mouth. “He’s dead.”
Carter stayed quiet for a moment. Then he chuckled bitterly and dragged a hand over his dark brows. “What do you want from me?”
“I killed him.”
He dropped his hand and gave me a flat, bored look, as if my effort to show him affection meant nothing. “Just like you severed Anna’s head?”
Sarcasm.
He didn’t believe me. I’d said I would sever Anna’s head. But she still walked these halls in her short skirts.
Sliding open the desk drawer, I retrieved the Polaroid I’d taken that morning and tossed it at him. It sailed to the floor and landed near his feet.
Carter bent down to pick it up, eyes flicking to mine with something unreadable before landing on the photo.
I saw the exact moment his face paled. My dick twitched, because there it was.
That flash of fear I loved.
“Mother’s coming over tomorrow night for our weekly dinner,” I said. “So I need to dispose of him tonight.”
He said nothing.
I sighed. “Don’t you appreciate what I did for you?”
