Rattlebones (bxbxb)

Dead Silence

That night, I dream an awful nightmare that sticks with me long after I'm awake.

I had never been one to enjoy funerals, as much as I loved death. There was something sterile and strange about carting away a body, preparing it with makeup, and lying it out for everyone to see. There wasn't enough time to say goodbye. There wasn't enough solidarity.

But there I was again, standing in the funeral home where I kidnapped Eugene's body from. Everything was identical to how it was when I broke in during his wake. His shiny, black coffin. Wreaths of assorted flowers. There was even a jumbo-sized picture of him in his red Panthers football uniform, grinning at the camera.

I'm in my black suit, tie, and my hair is pulled back out of my face, tucked into a dumpling sized bun on top of my head. But there's something different this time.

Eugene's coffin is wide open and he's lying inside, a peaceful smile on his face. His family had draped his favorite rockband T-shirt over his body and basketball cards have been tucked into the lining of his casket.

I look around and realize that I'm the only one standing in the room with him. And for some reason, this totally unnerves me. I hated the human race with a passion and preferred being alone, but this was an unnatural silence.

"Hello? Is anybody here?" I call, and I start to move away from the coffin.

Eugene's hand shoots out before I can turn to leave and he grabs onto me with the fierceness of a person drowning. "Why did you do it?!" He screams at me. "Why did you kidnap me? This was supposed to be my moment!"

I scream and jerk back on his hand as hard as I can, but as I do so, he rises out of the coffin. His skin is peeling off his face in chunks, glaring white pieces of his skull visible beneath the rotting flesh. I try to run, but Eugene follows, pulling me back down into the casket with him.

"No!" I holler, and I reach my hand out for the light as the lid begins to close on us. "Eugene!"

I wake up drenched in a cold sweat, gasping for air. The room is dark, but light spills in through the curtains. But I'm trapped, I can't move. Eugene has one leg thrown over me and Iggy has his head on my chest.

I start to wiggle around a little until Iggy wakes up when I kick him in the shin, his blonde head shifting a little before he realizes that he's half on top of me.

But the thing is, he doesn't move.

I lay there in the silence with him, wondering what the hell he's doing. Is he trying to make my heart explode? Does he want to blow my enigmatic demeanor?

"What are you doing?" I whisper to him.

"Trying to decide if I like this or not," Iggy murmurs back, and his ear is pressed to my chest.

My face feels like it's on fire. I try staring at anything but him, but it's impossible. His arm is around me, and his soft blonde hair is touching my throat. I can even see that his shirt has ridden up slightly to reveal his pale stomach.

"Do you like it?" I finally manage to ask Iggy, sounding a little shy.

"I don't know yet," Iggy replies. "I've never felt attracted to a guy before. But it's different with you. You're small, weird, and creepy. Like a raccoon."

Before I can respond, Eugene stretches and yawns loudly, his hand reaching to shove me away from him. "Yo, Darcy. Is that a boner?" He demands.

"No!" I instantly shove Iggy off and untangle myself from both of them, launching out of bed. "We should really be getting ready for school. Eugene, I'm going to need to stop by my house. Can you stay alive long enough for us to do that?"

Eugene crosses his arms behind his head, looking absolutely delicious at this point. "Just as long as you don't bore me to death with your weird little useless facts." He replies. Bastard.

"Great," Iggy says, and he clamors out of bed. "I'll meet you guys at school."

But I'm not so sure of that. Iggy and Eugene were part of an entirely different group than I was. In fact, before Eugene had died, I had often been the object of his merciless teasing. The whole backpack in the toilet, laughing and jokes. He had never actually raised a fist to me, but words were just as sharp.

How would this affect us now? Eugene needed me, no matter how cruel he had been. I couldn't just abandon him.

"Hey," Eugene says as he joins me back out in the hallway. "What was that back there? Why don't you tell him how you feel instead of acting all squirrely?"

My face is instantly hot again. "It's not that easy," I reply. "Iggy made it glaringly clear that he's completely straight. I have to respect his choices." I cross my arms and glance back at the room, then over at Eugene again. "Besides, we wouldn't work out."

Eugene scoffs and he steps closer to me, reaching down to take my face in his hand. He turns my head to one side, and then the other, looking me over. "You're fucking adorable, Brown." He tells me quietly. "And really fucking naive."

I break away from him and duck my head, my dark hair falling in my eyes. "Come on, we need to get to school before we're late."