Solislunar

Chapter Three

Four days later, they lay K.C. to rest. They never found Damian, which I have no idea why not, but at least K.C. is at peace now. It's a closed casket, since one of the bullets hit her beside her eye, a lethal but slowly killing shot. I tune out most of the conversations in the funeral home, and it seems as if Lucille, K.C.'s grandmother, does the same. She just stares at the photo of K.C., by the casket, and I realize with a jolt when the picture was taken. It was about a year ago, when me and K.C. first discovered Nothing Before Coffee. That was the day. She kissed me for the first time, inside Nothing Before Coffee, and we both realized our feelings. She had pulled me into the bathroom after subtle flirting, under the pretense of a lipstick touch up, and then as soon as the door closed, she locked it, kissing me with so much passion, it shocked me. But only at first, and then I was kissing her back, and she was pressing me against the wall, her hands roving over my curves, tangled in my hair. She was a good kisser, had a practiced ease to her movements, and she smelled - and tasted -  like caramel, and it was blissful, and I didn't want it to end, but it did, when someone started banging on the door, yelling. We had broken apart  then, smoothing our hair and fixing our makeup. There had been several times when K.C. came over when my parents were gone and we'd... well, I don't want to share that. Now, Jenny, K.C.'s white cousin from Scotland, plops down next to Lucille, her fiery red hair and odd brown eyes drawing looks from around the room. Red hair was a rarity in town.  Catherine, Jenny's mother, licked her finger and started rubbing at an unseen spot on Jenny's face. "Ach, Mum, Yoo're embarrassin' meh!" Jenny says, her thick Scottish brogue making it difficult to understand her. 

After the ceremony, the pall bearers carry K.C. to her burial plot. As they lower her, the priest says, in his Scottish accent, " In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Rest In Peace, Kimberly Cane." And Lucille cries, at last, while Jenny and I comfort her.

Back in the funeral home, I go to find the bathroom, so I can change my bandages. I pass two doors, one labeled "Office" and the other... I shiver. "Morgue". I hurry past, and I'm in the bathroom for a long time. When I come back out, I think I must've taken a wrong turn, so I go back to the bathroom. But I didn't take a wrong turn, I couldn't have. The bathroom is the last thing in the hall, a dead end. I go back down the hallway, eyeing the clearly new third door, which has no markings, no labels. I hope the doors just magically grow each day. But I'm not so lucky. As I pass the door, I realize my mistake. The door is cracked, eyes peeking out, and before I can run, a hand wraps around my arm, and pulls me in. 

I can't breath, and then suddenly it's over. I'm in a forest, surrounded by dozens of people. Hands grab at me, but one in particular manages to haul me up, shoving me against the base of a tree. A dark face hovers in front of me, and my fear turns slowly, ever slowly, to anger. I clench my fists. "Miss me?" Damian says, a smirk on his face. I really, really want to hit him. "You're coming with me, Solis. And if you fight, I'll knock you out and force you to come with me." he finishes, gesturing towards the forest. I tense. "Watch what you say, killer. Nobody tells me what to do. Not even someone who could  - and probably will - kill me if I tried to fight him. Go to hell, and stay there. You deserve to burn extra long, and to fucking suffer, for what you did." I spit, and his hold tightens. I don't even see the blow coming, just slump forward, unconscious, when his fist connects to my temple.