For Shits and Giggles [2024]

Chapter 31

When Camilo finally broke his promise, his bittersweet promise to never leave her again, it took Gracie by surprise.

He'd gotten an unexpected text from Santiago. Emergency meeting at the Café, 2pm.

Her chest felt tight, her heart pounded in her ears. It wasn't his leaving that filled Gracie with anxiety and dread; in fact, she relished every second he was in a separate room, or out taking a quick dip in the lake. It was the box underneath the bed that made her palms sweat.

"P-Please," Gracie felt like she was choking. Suddenly, her tongue was too heavy and too swollen and took up so much room in her mouth that it lodged in her throat. "I promise I'll be good, I won't run away," she begged. And this time, she meant it. She really wouldn't run away. It wasn't worth the risk.

It wasn't worth the punishment.

But Camilo wouldn't listen. He pulled out the chest. She gasped over and over; no matter how much air she sucked in there was never enough to fill her lungs.

The chest had been cleaned since the last time she was in it, and smelled of lavender pinesol and very faintly of ammonia. Gracie cried and screamed and kicked and scratched, but as soon as he yelled, "stop fighting!"— she'd stopped fighting.

Even after closing the car door behind him, Camilo could hear her muffled screaming. It was extremely faint. So faint that to anyone else it might have been a distant bird, or the whispers of old wind chimes. But he could hear her voice distinctly ringing in his ears, even after he reached the Café.

"You're late," Santiago shot Camilo a glare when he walked through the door. A bell twinkled above his head, several eyes turned to look at him. A couple faces he didn't recognize. For a moment, Camilo thought he'd been caught, his secret splaid across his forehead in bright neon letters. But then Felix looked away, and suddenly there were more important things.

Paola was there. She sat at her own table away from Felix and Santiago, her face full of contempt. It caught Camilo by surprise. Paola never came to these gatherings. She'd actively refused to participate in the search for Gracie. Camilo wanted to ask why, weren't they best friends, shouldn't she be worried sick? Aching to find Gracie? But he never did ask; the less people searching for his beloved, the better. Or maybe Paola knew, subconsciously or metaphysically knew, that Gracie was where she belonged. With him.

"What's the emergency," Camilo asked as he pulled out a seat for himself. "Did you find Gracie? Where is she?"

Santiago shot him an unbelieving glare. Felix did too.

Camilo took another look around, feeling the tension, "Where's Fior?"

"She's not coming," said Paola. "Group gatherings... you know what they do to her."

"Okay," Camilo swallowed, confused. "Then why are we all here?"

"The day Gracie and I were taken to the facility," Paola started and ignored his question. Santiago and Camilo knew everything about the facility; the cells, Dr. Sny' notes, the experiments. Feliqs revealed everything. He told them about Sheriff Lotto and why they had to search for Gracie without his help. He couldn't be trusted.

Camilo played with the bottom of his shirt nervously, "Was there a clue there? Did you find something?"

"No," she said. "Not really... but I remember she got a text that day, from you. You wanted to take her to some lake."

"Yeah... it's true, so what?" He swallowed hard.

"So... did you guys check by the lakes," Paola scanned the room.