For Shits and Giggles [2024]

Chapter 24

The ride away from the facility was quiet.

There were more stars than clouds overhead, the road was pitch black except for the SUV's headlights. Feliqs was at the wheel, Gracie was in the passenger seat.

Paola sat alone in the back.

"Henry must be worried sick..." she sighed, checking her phone. She was right, he'd called her several times. She rung him back, speaking to him quietly.

"Hi darling...Yes...I'm alright...no...no...I'll explain when I get home...should be there soon... yes... I love you too."

Gracie checked her own phone.

1:24 AM.

She had several missed calls: one or two from Santiago, one from Fior, dozens from Camilo. Scarier than that, there was only 1 New Message from Camilo since she'd last checked her phone:

I'm pissed.

Gracie ignored it. There was a violent thumping in her head. Her lungs were still on fire, her throat was scratched red and bloody. Before they'd left the facility, Feliqs had released Liam and Scotty from their restraints. They didn't attempt to run or to escape. They only sat there on the cell floor, glancing between each other and snickering. They stared down Paola, Feliqs, and Gracie as the three of them exited the building. Still, they didn't move. So they were left alone.

"You're going to regret this," Dr. Sny had said one last time watching them leave. Feliqs was half way out the door when he turnend on his heels and stomped his way back into Dr. Sny's cell.

"Fuck you," he said, gripping Dr. Sny's hair so tightly that his scalp began to separate. He slammed his head into the chair back so hard that his brains painted the wall a pretty pink-red color.

"What's going to happen to you when the curse is broken," Gracie said as he turned down the street into her block. "Won't you disappear?"

"No," said Feliqs. "I'm the one who made the deal with Her. I'll be the one who stays after." There was only a moment of hesitation— less than half a second, if that. But it was enough for Gracie to catch the doubt in his voice.

By the time Gracie entered her front door she was exhausted, defeated, and somehow both hopeless and hopeful. The curse finally had an end in sight— she didn't want to believe it, not completely. She didn't think she could handle a disappointment this immense if it were to fail. Gracie tried not to think about the pain and sat at her kitchen table downstairs.

She pulled out a pen, paper, and wrote.

"To whoever's out there,

There was a time when I believed we were chosen for something extraordinary. Like the good kind of extraordinary. Not so much anymore."

She wrote for a long time. When she was done, several pages were full and her hand was cramped and throbbing.

Reading over her letter, she was satisfied— pleasantly surprised at how expressive she was allowed to be. Gracie had attempted to write out her true feelings and thoughts before. She'd tried texting, typing, hand writing letters. But, just like speaking out loud, she could never get her true thoughts out. This time, although not fully, her feelings were much more clear. Was this a good sign?

She folded the pages neatly and carefully. This was her final Hail Mary. If she couldn't make it out of the town, maybe at least the letter could.

In reality, she knew that wouldn't work. Nothing ever left Pleasantwood. Not a whisper, nor a breath, let alone a letter. The real goal was to slip away from Camilo and show the letter to Santiago, to Paola, or even Fior. Then they'd understand her better. They'd know she was miserable... just like the rest of them.

Gracie looked at her phone again. She deleted every notification and text message from Camilo. If things went as planned, tomorrow everything would be different. She'd no longer be bound to Camilo, or to Pleasantwood. The shame she felt each day gripped her even tighter than the fear or self pity. It was the guilt, the regret and self loathing that consumed her. She would abandon all of it. Her friends, her business, her entire life here. It would be so easy.

Except, there was one thing, one person, she couldn't quite leave behind.

Gracie rung Santiago.

"Gigi?" His voice was raspy, strained. She'd clearly woken him from his sleep, but he was still happy to hear from her. Gracie couldn't help but smile, her chest felt warm. Santiago was always there for her— day or night.

"It's so late, are you okay?"

"Yeah... I'm okay."

She rubbed the red welts around her throat, but those didn't matter anymore.

"I tried calling you..." he paused for a moment, Gracie listened to his breathing. "I even thought about flying by your house yesterday but I didn't want you to think I was stalking you."

Gracie laughed.

"Did I do something to upset you," he asked.

"Of course not," she said. "I'm not upset with you."

Santiago paused again, as if not believing her. "I wish I could see you..."

"I spoke to Felix," she said softly, Gracie could feel the tension through the phone.
"What? Did he kill you? Is that why you've been MIA? I swear to God I'm going to—"

"He didn't kill me," she said quickly, hearing him shuffle out of bed over the phone. He was throwing on his jumpsuit, getting ready to leave before he heard Gracie continue. "He just... remember at the Café, you were about to tell me something? Right before Camilo came in. What were you going to say?"

Santiago sat back down on his bed, resting his elbows on his knees. This time, he paused a moment longer.

"I was asking you about my eyes..." she added.

"I remember," he said. Santiago took a deep breath.

"Did you know," Gracie asked impatiently. "About my curse?"

"Yes."

Her breath caught in her throat. She didn't want it to be true. A million rationalizations ran through her mind, all at once. Maybe he wanted to save her from the choice, the responsibility—her eyes or the town? Maybe what Felix had said wasn't the entire story? But whichever way she spun it, it was devastating—Santiago keeping something this big from her. Not trusting her with the truth. Her own truth.

"This entire time... you knew? About the witch?"

"Wait," Santiago said quickly. "Witch? What witch?"

"Felix told me..."

"What are you talking about?"

"So... you really don't know," and just as quickly, relief washed over her. "About the deal Felix made with the witch?"

"No," he sounded genuinely confused, concerned. "What deal?"

"Come over tomorrow," Gracie said, happy that her suspicions were wrong. Happy that Santiago hadn't been lying to her. "I have to tell you something, it's good news. I just... I need to see you first."

If she was going to lose her sight forever, she needed to see him one final time. Santiago smiled, it was like he was having the sweetest of all dreams.

"Yeah? Okay. I'll come by first thing then."

"I can't wait," then she paused. "But, Santi... you said yes just now. What do you know about my curse? What were you going to say?"

There it was again, the uncomfortably long silence from his end.

"...Tomorrow, when I see you. I'll tell you everything."

Gracie wanted to pull it out of him right then and there, but she nearly jumped out of her skin with fright. Heavy footsteps came rushing down the stairs toward her—then, a shadow. Gracie stood up quickly. Had someone broken in?

"There you are," he said.

"Camilo," Gracie gasped as he stepped into the kitchen.

He'd been asleep in her bed, waiting. Patiently.