My Darlings by Marie Still

Author:Marie Still [Marie Still]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-07-24T00:00:00+00:00

My heartbeat pounds in my head. Each pulse sends a throbbing pain reverberating through the interior of my skull. My mouth tastes sour and foul, and my throat burns from what must have been vomit. I can’t remember puking, or how I got home, or anything really.

“Wake up, Bryony.” My mother’s voice sends a chill down my spine. I open my eyes to her standing over my bed. She looks eerily calm. It’s when she looks like this that I fear her the most.

I try to sit up and wince at the increased pain each small movement brings. “I’m sorry. I didn’t drink that much.” My voice sounds hoarse and strained.

“You don’t remember, do you?” She starts laughing, the sound like glass shattering. My entire body shakes. I’m less afraid of what I’ve done than I am of what she’s about to do to me. She stands, throws my phone in my lap and leaves. Bile creeps up my esophagus. I swallow it down. My entire body quakes after I unlock my phone and see hundreds of notifications of texts, calls, and every social media app.

When I open my texts, I see why.

I crawl out of bed and take out my violin. I play Bach’s Partita No. 2 until the notes lose meaning; it’s just chaos and noise. A chainsaw. My fingers bleed. My muscles ache. I don’t stop. The music chases away the shame and the ache. Minutes or maybe hours later, there’s no telling, I open the door to go to the bathroom.

Mother is standing in the hallway outside my door. “You’re a good girl, my darling.”

Pride swells in my chest, replacing the shame.

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