ecstasy | corpse husband

chapter 22.

"I'll drag his body out back."

flare hops down from the counter, the first one to break the twenty minute long silence. "monroe, a little help?" he calls a bit sharply. perhaps he thinks it's the least she can do.

monroe obliges, standing up from her spot against the candy bar rack. there's a heaviness to her as she walks across the 7-eleven, and it has everything to do with the dainty brunette curled away in the corner of the store and nothing to do with the man she just killed. she had tried calming anette's crying earlier but anette only lashed out at her in a rather audacious manner. It felt like words that should've been said without an audience, a private matter, but it was all ears and it was the reason for the awkward silence that followed.

the two of them drag cooper all of one foot before monroe slumps and drops the limb she was holding. her eyes peer across the room, and they land on corpse. It makes elowen stiffen.

"hey," she calls to get his attention, nicely enough. "you want to get in good with us, yeah?" she motions for him to come closer, indicating that he take her place in assisting flare. she looks to the boy currently holding cooper's other arm. "I can't do it a second time."

elowen guesses she means because cooper is so heavy. he appears well over two-hundred pounds, at the least. dragging him around could frankly make her strain something. flare is very thin, himself, though his loose jacket hides it.

corpse is surprisingly compliant and goes to help with no questions asked. he gives monroe a side glance as he passes her, but it's unreadable. monroe looks away.

"can you at least get the doors?" flare asks of her as he and corpse grab hold of each of cooper's limp wrists. she does, and the boys heave the body along the back wall of the store until they disappear into a hallway. monroe follows after.

there's a sniffle in the air. elowen turns her head and sees anette rubbing at her eyes, then wiping her hands on her jeans. the corner of the store she's sitting in is especially dim, amongst car products and an umbrella stand.

"were you and cooper close?" elowen's asks, and her voice is just above a whisper.

anette shakes her head but her eyes stay trained to the floor. "I never thought of him as a friend—none of us were that fond of him. that probably makes me look ridiculous for crying like this, but he was just someone we all knew growing up... you know?" another tear falls. "we went to middle school together. he was in my home room all three years. It's just... I don't know."

elowen looks at the girl thoughtfully. "you can be sad about it. even if you weren't close." It used to happen to her rather frequently because she cared too much.

"no. It's weird," anette admits. "It's not even really cooper I'm crying about. not entirely, anyway. if he had died any other way, I would have been fine. people are dying left and right. but he died at our hands. at..." she trails off.

"monroe's hand?" elowen fills in for her.

anette nods, shrinking a little as she does so. "I didn't think she was capable of that. maybe that makes me a naive girlfriend for thinking she'd listen to me, knowing how she is."

oh. elowen masks her surprise, wondering why she didn't realize sooner. "people will always disappoint you eventually. It's better you realize that sooner than later and learn to move on."

the girl looks up dejectedly, but neither says anything more.

elowen is thankful when she hears the rustle of boxes and then the sound of the door opening again. monroe emerges with flare, followed by corpse. the boys appear out of spirits, no doubt a result of disposing of the freshly dead body. the brunette leading the way is untroubled after their activity, although her expression is not inviting.