Mine.
Mine.
Mine.
“You’re all mine.” I don’t intend for the words to slip out, but they do, and she accepts my claim.
“Yes,” she moans, her body molding to me.
I touch her face and leave my bloody fingerprints behind. She takes hold of my hand and brings it to her mouth, kissing my palm, her lips coming away red.
“We’ll always be joined in blood,” she says, licking away my blood, taking me inside of her.
Chloe’s my savior. My redemption. My perfect girl who somehow deems me worthy of her love. I’ll accept and protect it until the end of time.
“I’m yours, little sinner. In this life and whatever comes next, I’ll always be yours.”
Chapter 23
Zack
TEN MONTHS LATER
Rain batters against the window as another summer storm rolls in off the coast. I lie on the couch and watch the drops track down the glass. A breeze creeps in from where I’ve left it slightly ajar to help stop my body from burning up. The chills will set in again soon, and when Chloe gets home from work, she’ll turn me into a burrito with every blanket we have in the house.
After the fateful night we met, Chloe and I traveled across states, staying in motels and abandoned buildings. Taking the time to heal our bruised bodies and fractured minds. It worked for us for a few months. We laid low, and built new lives for ourselves, took on whatever under-the-table jobs we could find, or stole if we needed to.
When I set up the plan to kill myself, I had already drained my accounts and had the money stashed in my car. It wasn’t much, but it helped us along our way, and we ended up getting enough together to acquire new identities.
Chloe wanted the chance to say a proper goodbye to her mom before we got too far away, so we travelled to her hometown where she found her grave overgrown with flowers. She cried more than I’ve ever seen her do before, and it broke my heart.
After that, we traveled until we found a little home in a sleepy coastal town where we’re still living now.
I tried pushing some gear to make some extra cash, but the temptation was too strong, and I gave in more than once.
The last time I slipped was when Chloe was out of the house. I hated myself for it. I grew so paranoid that she wasn’t going to come home because she somehow knew what I’d done and left me. High off my face, I walked to her work, and she cried when she saw the state I was in. Vomit down my shirt, and barely able to walk straight. That was the moment I knew I had to stop for good.
I promised myself and Chloe that I’d quit. This time it’ll stick. I can feel it in my chilled bones.
We mostly keep to ourselves here. Chloe works at the local diner in the evenings as her new persona, Mia. It pains me to have her away from me when we’re always looking over our shoulders, waiting for the rug to be pulled away from us after everything we did, but she wants to provide for us as well. The last thing I’m going to do is deprive her of what she wants after those fuckers at the convent kept her locked away for years. Especially not when her new life brings her so much joy. I’ve never seen someone smile as much or as genuinely as Chloe does. The tiniest things brighten her day, like when she hears a new song on the radio or if she spots a dog on one of our late afternoon walks. She’s devouring the world around her, and it feels like a true miracle that I get to witness her get her life back.
Chloe decided to anonymously drop off Christopher’s notebook at a police station. Nothing’s come of it on the news. There haven’t been any raids on convents or a scandal on corruption within the church. Without the tape or a detailed confession, there’s nothing to link it all. But I see the way Chloe stares off into the distance sometimes. She feels guilty that everything that happened to her is still happening now. Soon enough, she’ll have an outlet for that grief. I have a surprise for her. Two surprises, actually. I’m just waiting for the perfect moment. Which is not now. The last thing I want to do is propose when I’m covered in sweat and vomiting every twenty minutes because I’m going cold turkey.
I must manage to fall asleep for a bit, because when I wake up Chloe is home and my head is on her lap. “Morning, baby.” She smiles down at me. Her hair is stuck to her forehead from being caught in the rain. It seems to have let up now. The low light filters in through the window, and gives her warm tan skin a heavenly glow. Her freckles stand out, and it’s hard not to get lost in their pretty constellation.
I get to wake up to this view every morning. I never used to imagine my future. The old me didn’t think I deserved one. Sometimes the nightmares come, and there’s this split second before I fully wake where the thought of death swirls in like a dark fog in my mind. But then it burns away with Chloe’s light, and I remember exactly why I’m still living.
“How are you feeling?” I watch her lips as she talks. After getting shot in the ear, I lost some of my hearing. Chloe always makes sure to speak on my good side and to let me read her lips if I need to.
She presses her hand to my forehead, and frowns. “You’re hot.”
“I’m fine. How was work?”
She ignores my question. “You’re not fine. I knew I should have taken some time off to stay and look after you.”
“I’m not a baby,” I mumble grumpily and close my eyes as she strokes my forehead.
“If you’re not a baby then I suppose you don’t want the chicken noodle soup and cherry pie I brought home from work for you.”
