Free Darkest Before Dawn by Stevie J. Cole Page A

disoriented. And the moment she remembers where she actually is, well, it’s obvious because her entire body sinks.
    “Breakfast,” I say as I take a seat on the end of the mattress. I hand the plate to her and she eyes the food. “It’s not poisoned,” I say.
    “I don’t care if it is. I have no control here. I know that. If you want me dead, let’s be honest, not much I can do about that.” She grabs the plate and sets it in her lap. I take a forkful of egg and cram it inside my mouth. “Why are you eating with me?” she asks.
    I shrug. “Why not?”
    She studies me, and it seems she’s attempting to peer into places no one should try to go. We hold a silent and scrutinizing staring contest while we eat. Once she’s finished she sets the plate on the ground and sighs. I place my plate on top of hers and scoot back on the mattress, leaning against the wall. There’s a pipe that’s leaking and the constant drip of water is annoying as fuck.
    Her eyes follow my gaze to the pipe. “Annoying, huh?” she asks.
    “Yep.”
    “Bother you, I guess?”
    “Yeah, of course it does.”
    “I’ll tape it up then.”
    There’s a few minutes of silence again and then she sighs. “Can you at least let me know before you do it? Or before someone’s going to do it? I just want to know, in case I want to pray or something, you know?”
    I look at her from the corner of my eye. “I’m not going to kill you.”
    “You don’t have to lie to me. It’s not like you’re just going to let me go, even if you get what you want… whatever that is,” she grumbles.
    Closing my eyes, I place my hands behind my head and get more comfortable in my spot on the mattress. “I don’t want to kill you.”
    “But you’re going to.” Her voice has a slight tremor to it now.
    “No.”
    “Do you know why my brother wanted me dead?”
    “No.” I swallow. Fucking Earl must have told her, and I am not willing to go any further with that, so I change the topic. “What size do you wear?”
    “What?”
    “Clothes. What size clothes? I’m gonna go get some clothes for you.”
    She sits silently for a moment. “A six. Medium. Stuff like that. Not that it matters if it fits, you know.”
    I reach over, placing my hand on her knee. “I want you as comfortable as possible. I know it doesn’t seem like it, but this has nothing to do with you.”
    And in this moment, her expression falls blank. She blinks. Her pupils swell and her eyes trail down to my lips. She swallows and quickly averts her gaze. I see the tiniest crack fissure through her. And as fucking wonderful as that is—I wonder what she’d look like in a soft linen dress, her hair brushed from her face. I wonder what her lips taste like, what her laugh sounds like…she’s too real. Too pure. Too human. I’m afraid I may be breaking, too.
    And we mustn’t break together. That would be catastrophic. Without another word, I stand and leave the room. My mind reels as I make my way up the stairs, the old wood creaking under my weight.
    I walk through the kitchen, grab the keys to my truck from the counter and my jacket from the back of the old wooden chair. The deadbolt clicks, and I hear Earl’s recliner groan as he sits up to most likely peer around the doorframe.
    “Where you going?” Earl calls from the living room.
    “To get her clothes. Don’t go trying to fuck with her. I swear to God, I will kill you if you do,” I say. “And she’ll tell me.”
    He waves me off and flips the channel to some horrible movie from the ’70s. “I won’t touch your purdy little girl.”
    Shaking my head, I push the screen open. “You’re a fucking idiot.”
    “Boy, I’ll choke you in yer sleep.”
    The door slams shut behind me and I climb into my car, driving the forty miles to town to buy my soon to be ‘pretty little girl’ some clothes.

    * * *
    I found myself worried with what she would like when I was shopping. That’s a first. And it is a warning sign I