I made it home.
Sam didn’t stir as I entered. She was asleep—or pretending. The house was dark, cool, lifeless. The perfect opposite of where I’d been.
I stood in the kitchen for a long time, letting the hum of the refrigerator fill my head. The clock ticked. My ears rang with leftover echoes. Nina’s last breath. The rasp of ending. The silence after.
Had I done it?
The Beast said yes. He celebrated in my bones. My muscles still ached with aftershocks of release and wrath. But I—Mitchell—stood here with trembling hands and a fog in my mind.
Guilt? No. Not that. Not anymore.
I washed up. Changed clothes. Folded them. Hid the things that mattered.
Sam stirred when I climbed into bed. She mumbled something unintelligible, turned over, and fell back into her version of peace. I lay beside her, staring at the ceiling fan.
I used to wonder if there was something wrong with me. Now I know the truth: I’m working exactly as designed. Some machines are built to build.
Others are made to destroy.
As sleep hovered over me like a slow wave, I felt calm. There would be no nightmares tonight. Only silence. Like Nina.
Like the others.
[from SEETHINGS, downloadable and free for a limited time].
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