Insatiable (UNDERGOING REWRITES)

Chapter 39 : Julian Mason

"Gabby! Wait for me!"

I turned and watched my brother push his way through the brush and stumble out the other side. I giggled, reaching to pull a few leaves from my brother's hair.

"I don't like the woods," Hunter grumbled. I giggled again and pointed to the pond behind us.

"I just wanted to go for a swim. You didn't have to come with me."

"I'm your older brother, I have to protect you."

"Twin. You're only older by, like, a minute––"

"A minute and forty seconds."

I rolled his eyes. "Besides. What do you need to protect me from out here?"

Hunter looked at me in disbelief, as if I just said the most ridiculous thing. "What do I need to protect you from? Well, for starters, everything! We're in the woods, pretty much the middle of nowhere and close to a mile from the cabin. And you're tiny. Anything could come and snatch you up."

I rolled my eyes again and my brother's own ridiculousness. When I turned away and started shedding my clothes, Hunter grumbled even more.

"We don't know what's in that pond. Could be alligators or snakes."

"Alligators aren't in Montana, Hunter."

"Still. Something like that."

Once I was stripped down to just my briefs, I looked back at Hunter––his wide eyes, messy hair and dirt smudged clothes––I gave him my most reassuring smile. "Stop worrying so much, brother. Sometimes you just gotta trust in yourself, and take the leap."

And I did just that. Taking a running start, I leaped over the tall grass acting as a barrier between land and water, before plunging underneath the stillness.

———

"You know," dad started, plopping down on my bed beside me. "Octavius is in a better place now."

I sniffled, rubbing at my already red eyes and stared at the pile of tissues in my lap. It made a little mountain the size of my recently dead dog, Octavius. He was my best friend, next to Hunter, of course. And dad had said he was sick, too sick to keep around so they had to 'put him down.' Which is just a nice way of saying they killed him.

Dad reached up and pushed hair away from my face so it wasn't sticking to my tear-stained cheeks. "He was in a lot of pain, Gabs. We did what we had to do or else he would still be suffering. But he's in a better place now. He isn't in pain anymore."

"But how do you know?" A little sobbed escaped my lips. Dad wiped the tears away.

"I don't know for sure. I just have to hope he is. That's the scary part about death. We don't know what it entails. But we just have to know it's going to be better."

He maneuvered himself so we were both lying in my small bed.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Gabs?"

"Have you ever lost someone like Octavius?"

He was quiet for some time, his arm wrapped around my shoulder and stroking my arm for comfort. "Yes. I lost someone a long time ago. I loved him very much, just like how you loved Octavius."

I looked up at my dad, his eyes faraway and sad and shiny. "Do you miss him?"

"Very much." Dad moved his hand from my arm to my hair and stroked there. "I bet they're both together now, watching us, and wishing us only the best."