Chapter 12: Chapter 12 - Kiema

I woke up on the couch again. Damn man moved me around like I was a mannequin.

Dusk had fallen, the looming shapes of the trees just on the border of the yard stiff fingers spearing into the sky.

When I was a kid, I'd been afraid of them. I thought something was trying to rise up from under the ground to come capture me.

As an adult, I wished a mythical beast would come capture me, spiriting me away from the hell of my life. Those monsters had to have been better than the ones I called Mother and Father.

"Shit!" Ransom said from somewhere behind me.

I pushed myself up on one arm, looked over the back of the couch. "What are you doing?"

"You're awake!"

"No, I'm not. You're hallucinating." I laid back down.

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you feeling better? Does the house still stink like sweaty man-ass?" He leaned over the back of the couch into my line of view.

"Yes, I'm feeling better. Yes, the house still stinks," I said, my tone flat.