Page 16 of Above All Else

She was always an angel in my eyes—save for the last two weeks of my life.

June held a rent-free space inside my mind for eleven years, her silky skin a fragmented fantasy on my tongue.

But not anymore...

I ground my teeth, forcing the unwanted thoughts to the back of my mind as I scooped her up, cradling her against my chest.Her light, limp form hung in my arms as I carried her to my car.

My heart thundered in my chest, each beat louder than the last, drowning out my quick shallow breaths, and my pulse pounding in my ears like a relentless drum.

I dropped her into the back seat, the dull thud echoing in the enclosed space. Sliding into the driver’s side, I yanked off the goat mask and flung it into the passenger seat.

I can do this.

She deserves it.

I backed away from her crashed car, tires kicking up gravel as I sped off into the mountains, the small dose of ketamine buying me time. Towering pine trees flanked the washboard road, their branches draped in lichen, like a creeping infection spreading through the darkened forest—an infection like June, who needed eradication before she tainted the rest of the world with her pervasive disease.

The headlights carved a path through the thickening gloom as I pressed deeper into the wilderness, every jolt in the road sending a tremor through my already frayed nerves—adrenaline coursing through my veins.

Above, the full moon cast an eerie glow, the stars twinkling like distant eyes, guiding me closer to the inevitable—a ten-hour countdown to the reckoning.

I stole a glance in the rearview mirror, dark crimson smeared across my brow and cheek. My gaze shifted to June’s limp body sprawled in the backseat. Her arms dangled over her head, kneesbent.

Even in sleep, she radiated an innocence that belied the darkness within—the lies she told, the murderous impulses she hid beneath that angelic exterior.

Had she murdered anyone else?

Did she suffer from that proclivity?

But was I any better for killing her boyfriend?

I shook off the conflicting shame.

She deserved to see the man she loved dead beside her.

Casualty of justice.

The little black sensor Paul gave me sat in the windshield and triggered the large black iron gate open, revealing a long cobblestone driveway lined with soft lights, shrubs, and towering trees.

Other cars parked along the path with dark silhouettes. My foot pressed harder on the gas, the wheels bumping over the cobblestones, the looming pines closing in around us.

As I reached the end of the driveway, a cabin emerged from the shadows, half-suspended over the still waters of a lake, reminding me of the night he’d forced me to join or die.

I pulled up to the cobblestone path leading to the door, the cabin’s reflection rippling on the lake beneath it. I took a deep breath, the sense of dread tightening in my chest as I glanced back at June’s unconscious form before stepping out into the night.

There it is.

Wicked paradise, nestled in the glorious Rocky Mountains.

A faint whimper drifted from the back seat, cutting through the steady hum of the engine.

“Hold on for a little while longer.”

My knuckles turned a pasty shade of white as I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

I had one chance.

I can’t fuck this up.