Page 43 of Apathy
“Infernum?” Disbelief laced my voice.
“Yeah!” Beatrice laughed. “Well, what’s left of it.”
“This place was fully functional back in the ’90s, but they shut it down and left it here to rot,” Danny explained as we walked together. “Which kinda works for us, since it’s a perfect place to hang out.”
I nodded at him, and instead of taking a seat next to Beatrice, who kept petting the spot on the wooden floor of the merry-go-round, I approached the dark horse Skylar was sitting on, annoyed by the lack of attention from her side. My fingers had been literally inside of her this morning, and she didn’t even bat an eye at my presence.
“Sky.” I touched her shoulder, only for her to jump in the spot, almost falling off the horse. “Whoa, there.” I steadied her before she could hit the ground.
Round, silver eyes connected with mine, fear evident in them, completely different from the girl I saw this morning. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail, but even the makeup she had on her face couldn’t hide the paleness of her skin, or the dark circles around her eyes.
How did I not notice them this morning?
Because you were too busy fucking with her head. My consciousness reared its ugly head.
I pushed those thoughts aside, and placed my hand on top of hers, feeling the soft skin and remembering how she looked this morning.
“Are you okay?” I asked when she said nothing, feeling the eyes of the other three on us.
“Yeah.” She grinned, but it was as fake as it came, and I hated it. I didn’t know why. I shouldn’t care, but I wanted to see the smile I saw years ago in that picture. This cold and distant girl in front of me wasn’t who I was expecting to meet. “Just a little jumpy.”
“You can say that again,” Beatrice chirped. “You’ve been acting weird the entire day.”
“Bea,” Rowan warned, but Skylar was already getting off the horse.
“Oh, excuse me, your highness, but I kinda found a dead body yesterday. I would like to see you acting completely normal after something like that.”
“I didn’t—” Beatrice started but Skylar cut her off.
“Save it.”
All four of us stood there, transfixed as Skylar marched away from us, disappearing into one of the tents.
“What did I say?” Beatrice looked at Danny, then at Rowan, and lastly at me. “She was acting weird.”
“Ah, Bea,” Danny groaned. “Skylar is a bit traumatized.”
“Yeah, I get that, but—”
“It’s okay. She’s gonna come back and you guys can continue playing nice,” Rowan said as he got up. “I’ll go talk to her.”
“No.” I stepped down. “I’ll do it.”
I picked up the bottle of Grey Goose Beatrice had left on the ground and walked in the same direction Skylar disappeared to. It was already getting darker out here, thanks to the cloudy weather and the surrounding mountains. I missed having an extended summer, like we had while living in California, but I didn’t miss the humidity that came with it.
I did love the fact that I could already wear boots, even though it was only September, and they definitely helped as I went through the puddles leading to the tent. I uncapped the bottle and took a hefty sip before entering the darkened area, looking for Skylar.
A lone figure sat in the middle of the circle that used to be used by the performers, her blonde hair creating a curtain hiding her face. She seemed so small, vulnerable, sitting there all alone, and as soon as those thoughts entered my mind, I tried shaking them off just as fast.
I could pretend to care, but I couldn’t really start believing that. That was simply not an option.
“Skylar?” I started once I entered the circle, coming closer to her. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she replied, but she never looked up.
“Really?” I dropped down on the floor right next to her, placing the bottle between us. “Because to me—”
“I really can’t deal with you right now, Ash,” she cut me off, drawing circles in the sand. “The last two days were a pure clusterfuck, and you being here, trying to interrogate me, isn’t helping.”
