Verum (The Nocte Trilogy 2)

Real.

I play it again in my head,

Again,

And again,

And again.

“My friend had to cancel,” Finn scowls. “So I guess I’ve been stood up. Are you sure you don’t want to come?”

Ugh. I groan internally because I’m not a fan of Quid Pro Quo, but Finn has been looking forward to this concert for months. I’m just about to agree to going, when my father walks in.

“I’ll go. I don’t want you going into the city alone this late.”

“Sa-weet!” Finn crows, and I don’t point out that most boys would rather die than go to a concert with their father. He’s not ‘most boys’ and we know it.

My father puts his hand on my shoulder.

“Hey, I know what,” he suggests

. “I want you to come too. I don’t want you here alone. Not tonight. You’re coming too, Calla. I’ll buy your ticket.”

“Heck yeah,” Finn says, and I want to scream, Noooooo. Don’t.

Because this is a memory and it’s real and I can’t change it.

We pile into the car,

And I can’t stop.

I can’t stop.

I’m going to kill them,

And I can’t stop.

Our car barrels down the mountain.

And my mom forgot her glasses.

I can’t change it now.

The night is shattered by screams.

Because I hit my mother and they’re all dead.

“My family is all dead. My father, my brother, my Finn. And your mother is dead too, and it’s all our fault.”

My words are finally true. And I see things.

I see things.

I see things.

Dare nods, and his movement is sad and I’m gurgling. I can’t breathe and my teeth are red.

“Have you known this whole time?” I ask, because I didn’t. Because I’m so fucked up that my mind has created stories out of stories out of stories.