ecstasy | corpse husband

chapter 17.

day of elijah's death

an undistinguishable amount of time passes. It's still light outside, but the sunshine of the day prior and early morning has vanished. the sky is littered with menacing clouds, and the trees are rustling violently with the wind. It's as if the earth is rumbling with emotion. elowen is unaware of it all.

she's alone in a world full of noise.

she stares at the van deserted in the middle of the road in front of her. white smoke had begun dissipating from the hood, signifying the end of her escape. the van breaking down feels like a laugh in her face on top of what already happened.

vaguely, she remembers a car passing by not too long ago, but the driver didn't stop or seem to notice her sitting in the grass. she doesn't have the energy to deal with anything, really, so she is grateful she gets off unseen.

soon after, there's movement somewhere in the forest. her heart jolts in her chest at the prospect of it being joey coming back for her; she had seen too much. or maybe a stranger got sight of the broken down van and wants to loot it. either way, she tries to make herself as small as possible up against the tree.

the footsteps grow closer. her breaths are ragged. she feels too overwhelmed, wants to turn it all off. every muscle in her body is drawn tight with fear.

when she forces herself to open her eyes again, familiar eyes stare back at her.

It's corpse.

he's alive, to her surprise. he found her somehow. her vision starts to blur with tears again, but out of... frustration. "go away," her voice is impossibly small.

he crouches in front of her to meet her eye level. he doesn't say anything.

her inexplicable anger starts to build and it feels miles better than her guilt. she focuses on it. "are you going to make me say it again?"

"I'm not making you do anything," he says in a low rumble emitting nothing but calm.

It irks her further. "you're the last person I want to see right now." somewhere in her head, it's true. he's unfazed. "I want to be alone. can you not do me that small decency?"

"tell me what happened, and I'll consider it." he can tell something is very wrong. for one, the car is smoking on the side of the road.

elowen blinks incredulously. he doesn't know? had the horror of joey not been his reason for leaving in the first place? she realizes from the genuine look he gives her he isn't kidding. if not that, then she figured he would've walked back to the old spot where the van was parked and even seen for himself. she hadn't been paying attention which direction he came from just now. perhaps he really didn't see. he abandoned her for some other reason.

why did he leave in the first place?

the thought gets placed on hold. she isn't able to think about how she's going to answer his question without feeling the rush of prickling pain, like needles on every inch of her heart, wounding her. "you aren't going to believe me," she says as she realizes it.

his gaze is a careful one. "try me."

she sniffs and wipes the back of her hand over her nose, looking away from corpse at nothing in particular. "elijah's dead." her throat feels raw. "joey killed him. he mutilated his flesh and—" her chest heaves. "ate him."

her face screws into disgust. "he was enjoying it, even," she adds as an afterthought.

she hates that she has to see it again when she blinks, hates that corpse isn't reacting the way she thought he would, doesn't look surprised. he doesn't look appalled or confused or even shocked. say something snarky, she's actually wishing.