𝔄 𝔪𝔬𝔳𝔦𝔢 𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫𝔢𝔡 𝔦𝔫𝔱𝔬 𝔞 𝔭𝔬𝔢𝔪: 𝔅𝔬𝔫𝔢𝔰 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔄𝔩𝔩
I still feel the bruises on my lips,
my strawberry-tinted lip balm
and kiss marks
burnt onto your face.
I met you
in that rundown,
crappy Maryland market,
sniffing out your familiar
yet peculiar scent.
You were defending
that poor single mother
from that mindless drunk.
I saw you
red all over.
You finished him,
I still remember the name.
Barry Cook.
He was more of
a crook,
but I can't say much.
I disobeyed.
I broke a rule.
You stole his truck,
and it was ours.
It's still ours.
At least mine.
And just minutes later
I was in your new blue rusty truck
on our way for our odyssey,
exploring from anywhere
to everywhere.
I remember the day
we went to the asylum,
for my mother.
She had nubs
for hands.
She left my father
for a reason,
and now I realize why.
We argued after.
The next day,
I ran away.
I saw an old friend
at a gas station,
far from where you were,
at the time.
He called me words, Lee.
They weren't my name
and certainly weren't kind.
We ate together,
we starved together,
and laughed together.
I remember that day,
on the hill,
our sweat-slicked foreheads pressed
against one another.
I told you I wanted to live a normal life,
just how the normal people lived,
enough with all that eating.
And so, we were in Nebraska,
months later.
I was returnin' home from
work, the bookstore.
I nearly forgot
my old job.
It's been so long
without you,
yet the day, so memorable.
An old friend broke in.
You knew instantly.
We ended the chat soon,
he was in our tub,
a trash bag over his head.
You, dear boy,
were injured.
The oxygen was
seeping out of your
precious lungs.
You collapsed to the floor.
My tears diluted the red.
We promised no more eatin',
we did.
But you knew I was starvin'.
You smelt it.
I still smell that
nickel, that metal
red liquid.
I want you to feed..."
you forced out.
"I don't wanna."
I refused with all the will I had.
But you insisted.
You begged,
you pleaded,
over and over,
until I had finally succumbed.
"C'mon, Maren, love me
and eat."
The death in your eyes
will forever haunt me.
But I will forever
carry you with me,
your necklace mine,
and you,
inside.
We met that faker.
He ate three.
His friend ate his first
bones and all.
Few had eaten that much.
But I did.
Bones, and all.
I was devoted to consumption,
then consumed to devotion.
And now, we're at the beginning.
No father,
no mother
some money,
no love,
no you.
And wanna know the worst of all?
"Eaters never,
ever,
eat Eaters,"
Sully said.
You're an Eater.
I, too.
