Pins and Needles

Chapter 31

I stepped outside with tools in hand and was shocked to feel the freezing air pelt my skin. I had never experienced such cold weather in Florida before, it was quite refreshing. The sky was clouded over and for a split second, I thought it would snow, but that fantasy soon faded for its idiocracy.

I shuffled inside and shivered when the warm heat enclosed my cold figure. I scampered to the kitchen and dropped all the bloody tools into the sink before filling it with water and soap. As they were soaking, I opened the cupboards below the sink and took out the drain cleaner that had the words "95% sulfuric acid for the deepest clean" on the label. I then grabbed a jacket from my room and headed back outside to the shed where I set down the drain cleaner next to Maeve's body. The shovel laid discarded on the floor near the workbench, so I picked it up and trudged over to the big tree at the back of the yard. The rock where I had buried the crow was still there and I couldn't help but chuckle at the little graveyard I was creating in my own backyard.

I scoped an area that was away enough from the tree where I wouldn't hit any roots and began digging. I first scraped off the layer of grass to save for when I covered everything up and guesstimated how big the hole should be with my own body. Maeve and I were about the same height, so I had figured that if the hole was a little shorter than me, it'd be fine. I plowed into the dirt, it, at first, being extremely hard to get through the topsoil. But, as I built up my strength and persistence and got further into the ground, things eased up. It took a little over 30 minutes to dig a deep and wide enough hole for a human body, and once I finished, my arms felt like jelly. I squatted down in between the two graves for a little break, then popped back up to retrieve Maeve.

I prepared myself by putting on new gloves and shaking out my already numb limbs. Next, I untied all of Maeve's body parts that were still bound and examined the damage her moving had done to them. Her socks were in shambles at her ankles and her ghostly pale skin was raw to the bone. Her other wrist was in the same state as the previous, just less blood.

I attempted to hoist the girl over my shoulder, but failed miserably and bucked under all the weight she carried. Maeve was skinny, but that didn't mean she had no muscles. I readjusted, putting Maeve on her back and facing towards the ceiling. I took another good, hard look at her face, but had to avert my eyes as I was getting squeamish from the sight. I picked up Maeve's wrist and dragged her slowly but surely over to the hole. I placed her body next to the ditch and kicked at it till she fell in with a thunk. Maeve's head was squished into one side of the hole and her legs were just barely fitting at the end. I sighed, but didn't try to dig it wider because that would've been too much work.

I retrieved Maeve's eyes from the cooler and took them out of the baggy once I got back to her grave. I gagged at the slimy spectacles, almost feeling as if they were still looking at me. That thought made me fling the pair into the ditch without hesitation and shove the bag with leftover eyeball juices in it into my pocket. I stared down at Maeve's cramped figure and decided that I wanted to pay tribute to her, so I went around the garden and plucked the best looking flowers from the patches. Most of them were decaying dandelions, but I don't know what else I was expecting to find in winter. Nevertheless, I dropped the flowers onto Maeve and smiled weakly down at her.

"Merry Christmas."

As soon as I spoke those frail words, a single snowflake clung onto Maeve's neck. I looked up and was stunned to see small flurries falling from the grey clouds. There weren't very many snowflakes, but there were enough to make me feel almost peaceful. Unfortunately, I was quickly reminded of the decomposing girl that laid beneath my feet and the coarse reality soured my mood.

I got the drain cleaner from the shed and dumped the entire bottle on Maeve, making sure to spread out the liquid so that it covered her entirely. I then scooped the dirt back up and tipped it into the hole, watching as each shovel-full took part in putting an end to Maeve's and my relationship.

There was a small pile of dirt left over when I finished filling the hole, so I just flung it around the yard. I then took the grass that I had taken off before this and placed it back where it belonged. I tried to make it look as flat and natural as possible, so I jumped and stomped on the patch to even out the ground. Once it looked decent enough, I grabbed a big rock and placed it at the edge of the area, mimicking what I had done with the crow. I bowed my head, hesitant to leave, but eventually got up and focused on what I still had to do.

I threw the empty drain cleaner bottle into the garbage and as I was going back into the shed, I noticed the snow had stopped. I turned back towards the shed and went inside to look for any blood that might've splattered onto the walls or floor. I confirmed that none had gotten where it shouldn't have, so I focused on cleaning the tarp. After dragging the chair off the tarp, I soaked up most of the blood with a rag without any stains being left. The blood that had been there for a while, however, I had to bring out the bleach for. I scrubbed away at the spots, each leaving a lighter shade of grey behind once I stopped. I frowned at the job, knowing that my clean-up was sloppy, but continued as I didn't have time to deal with all of it right then and there.

I headed inside with the cooler and unloaded it when I got to my room. I took the face out of the bag and placed it on top of a towel where I examined it for any imperfections. There was a slit at the top of the face where Maeve had moved and I scowled at it. I turned towards my vanity to grab my needle and thread, but when I did so, I made eye contact with the girl. She looked disturbed with me, as if she disapproved of what I was doing. I turned my head away from her, not interested in what she had to say or show me and instead hastened my movements.

I stitched up the cut, knowing that it was the only way to fix it myself even if it left a scar. I also flipped the face over and cleaned up the backside so that there was no blood or veins left, only pinkish tan tissue mixed with skin. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes in preparation for the next step. I wasn't scared, but I was definitely dreading the pain that was coming my way. I circled a few ice cubes from the cooler around my face, not stopping until the chill couldn't be felt anymore. Then, I lined the face up with my own until I could see out of the two eye holes. I angled my head up so the face would stay on, then swiftly stuck down one stitch to secure the thing. I went down the line as quickly as I could, switching between stitching and wiping away blood. I wanted to scream so badly, but I knew doing so would totally jack up the alignment, so I kept my mouth shut. The lips were horrible because I had to cap them over my own and sew them onto the inside of my mouth. I took numerous breaks during that section to ice, breathe, and stop shaking. Once I finished one side of my face, the other side seemed less daunting. It still hurt like a bitch, but I was expecting the pain level, so I managed my anguish. I left the eyes for last and, boy, was that a mistake. I was already feeling lightheaded, but now I had to carefully sew eyelids onto eyelids? I wasn't prepared. I debated on cutting out the entire eye itself and just keeping my own eyelids, but I knew I wouldn't be happy with that, so I planned out how to weave this in the best way possible.

I first cut my eyelashes so they wouldn't make an imprint on the skin, then numbed the very edge of my eyelids with ice. Next, I lifted up my lid and with the same hand, lined up the overlapping lid with it. After that, I poked the thread through both layers of skin and fed it carefully down my eye. I took breaks a lot during this process because I couldn't see through the tears, it hurt bad, and I lost my grip easily. It took approximately a whole hour to get just my eyes done and most of that time was spent on the top lids. It was so hard to hold them in the right spot without poking my finger or eye. Luckily, I had done both eyes without stabbing either, but that didn't take away the fact that I felt like I was going to pass out and die any second.

I sat in my desk chair for a few minutes holding a towel and ice to my face to stop the bleeding and pain. I was out of breath and couldn't feel anything in my body; all senses were hyper focused on my face. I took the towel away when I was able to see straight again, and swiveled around in my seat towards the door. Doing so left me exposed to the mirror, and when I looked in it, I couldn't believe my eyes. I didn't see the girl, I saw myself.