For Shits and Giggles [2024]

Chapter 11

"You piece of shit!"

The morning sun was bleeding through her eyelids. She groaned trying to see through the red. There was yelling. Her jaw ached and her cheeks were throbbing.

"I told you I didn't want you alone with her," it was Santiago. Gracie heard thuds, a loud crash against the wall, and what sounded like fists striking raw meat. Then came Paola's voice.

"Santiago, stop it!"

Paola was worried for Felix, sure. But mostly, she was worried for the mess his mangled body was about to make.

"I'll kill him," Santiago growled, and Gracie finally wrenched her eyes open. As her vision steadied, she realized she wasn't in her own bedroom like last time. Instead, she was tucked warmly into Felix and Fior's marital bed. But Fior was nowhere in sight, instead Gracie noticed empty drawers and open suitcases scattered around. Her gaze shifted to Santiago—fists bruised and clenched, towering over Felix who was cowering in a corner.

Felix's clothes were torn in various places, and blood gushed from his nose, lip, and left eye. His face was swollen and unrecognizable.

A bouquet of flowers lay scattered across the ground, and Paola was on her hands and knees, carefully picking up each petal while avoiding the shards from the shattered window. Santiago, with his flair for the dramatics, had made one of his grand entrances, which this time involved crashing through a closed window.

He punched Felix again, more blood splattered across the bedroom floor. Paola crawled away, but not quickly enough. Blood hit her neck and collarbone.

She screamed and dove for the curtains, desperate for something—anything—to wipe off the blood. Spinning around in a frantic heap, she entangled herself in the sheer fabric of the curtains, which wrapped tightly around her throat. In her panic, Paola slipped on the same fabric and fell backward, out of the broken window. The curtain caught her neck like a makeshift noose, pulling taut with the weight of her own body. She was gone in an instant, her lifeless corpse thudding against the side of the house like a morbid Halloween decoration. Felix and Santiago remained unfazed.

"I'm sorry," Felix coughed. Santiago cursed at him again, jabbing his knee into his gut. Felix made no attempt to fight back. He welcomed the punishment.

"Just kill me... I deserve it," he grunted, coughing up blood onto the cream colored rug. "Do it."

"Kill you," Santiago snarled, picking Felix up by the collar and slamming him against the wall. The entire house shook, picture frames shattered to the ground, Felix's shoulder dislocated.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Santiago spat, throwing a punch that landed with a sickening crack as Felix's cheekbone broke. Blood sprayed from Felix's nose, painting both the walls and Santiago's face the same, vibrant color.

"Santi," Gracie reached for him, her voice hollow and weak. A hand grabbed her firmly, holding her back. Gracie hadn't noticed Camilo until just then. She looked at him in shock—had he just been watching this entire time?

"Camilo, please we need to stop them..." her voice was hoarse, her head was throbbing, and her abdomen ached.

"It's what Felix deserves," Camilo said coldly. He hadn't once looked at Gracie, not even when she woke up. His eyes were fixed on the scene in front of them, as if anxiously awaiting his turn to jump in (now that most of the work was done). His words and the contempt in his eyes cut deep, leaving a very sour taste in Gracie's mouth.

If Gracie could frown, she would have. It was sadistic. She had learned to love many things about Camilo. He was caring, devoted, and attentive. What she loved most about him was the compassion he showed the world. It was his capacity for forgiveness and understanding that won her over—she had hurt him their freshman year of college, very deeply. But he saw past that and accepted her anyway.