Free The Beautiful and the Damned by Jessica Verday

curled up in her
     sleeping bag. Sleep would make everything better. As long as she didn’t dream she
     would wake up with a clear head, and then she could figure out what to do.
    But sleep didn’t make everything better, and when Cyn woke again her head was pounding.
     The room went black, andshe had to count to ten before her vision cleared. Mental note: You need to eat more than just crackers.
    She looked at the clock to try and calculate how long it had been since she’d last
     had a solid meal and saw it was two o’clock in the morning. Her shift was supposed
     to start four hours ago. Marv probably thought she was a no-show.
    “Shit, shit, shit!” Cyn scrambled out of bed, and something clattered to the floor.
     She must have fallen asleep with the rosary Father Montgomery had given her.
    But when Cyn looked down, she saw that it wasn’t a holy relic lying on the floor.
    It was a knife.
    The room started to tilt again, and Cyn bent over and put her head between her knees. Where did that come from? “I must have picked it up from the diner,” she said out loud. Willing her words to
     become true.
    But there was no way it was from the diner. The knife had an elaborately decorated
     handle and a wide, flat blade. It looked like a ceremonial dagger.
    Visions of realtors suddenly deciding to stop by the building and stumbling upon the
     knife filled her mind. That’s the last thing I need. So she picked up the knife and carried it into the bathroom. Then she lifted the
     lid on the back of the toilet tankand dropped it into the water. It was the only place she could think of to stash it.
    Hurrying over to her suitcase, Cyn pulled out a black bobbed wig and then put on her
     diner uniform. The cuts on her arms were still clearly visible. A long-sleeved T-shirt
     layered beneath the uniform wasn’t her greatest look, but it covered everything up
     so she wouldn’t have to explain why her arms looked the way they did.
    Cyn walked as fast as she could to the diner, but Marv blew a gasket when she got
     there. “Finally decided to join us, huh?” His apron was messier than usual, and he
     was juggling plates. “I don’t know why you even bothered to show up after pulling
     this shit.”
    “I’m sorry, Marv. I got sick.” She didn’t beat around the bush or give him a smart-ass
     answer.
    “Yeah, well, don’t be getting any of my customers sick. That’s the last thing I need.
     Now go get your apron on and get out to table seven.”
    Cyn followed his direction and moved to take care of the table. But her reaction time
     was off, and she kept messing up. More than one irritated customer had their burger
     cooked wrong, or a drink not filled fast enough.
    “You really are dragging ass tonight,” Marv said whenthings finally slowed down. “You’re not gonna keel over on me, are you? Makes for
     bad publicity.”
    Cyn pulled two empty chairs over to the counter and put her feet up. Let him say something about me sitting down on the job now. I’ll tell him where he
     can stick it.
    “Must be a flu thing going around. I’ll be okay.”
    Marv shook his head, but a worried look crept across his face. He was just about to
     say something else when the bell above the door chimed. He glanced over. “It’s that
     cop again. He’s been looking for you. Think you can handle one more customer?”
    Cyn got to her feet. “Sure.” She knew she should be worried: The last time he was
     in here, she bailed on him. But she didn’t feel anything.
    Maybe this was acceptance. Maybe she was finally coming to terms with what she did.
    “Black hair really doesn’t suit you,” Declan said with a self-assured smile when she
     stopped at his table. “I preferred the brown.”
    “Do you know what you’d like to order?” she replied in a monotone.
    “Why do you change your hair color so often? You’re not trying to hide something,
     are you?”
    “What about something to drink?” Cyn suggested. “Coffee? Tea?