EPILOGUE
HENSLEY
After Tieran gave Gloria that new hole that one of her clients had tried to give him, I went outside and looked around for a little bit.
I knew that it would be easy enough to find what I was looking for if I remained patient, and when I found a couple, I went back inside holding one in each hand.
At first, my brother looked ill, almost as if he wanted to tell me not to do it.
“She wasn’t trying to stop him, was she?” I spat at him angrily.
Tieran put his hands on his hips, turned his face away and blew out his breath.
“Guess you’re right.”
“Good, now get out of the room if you don’t think you can handle this.”
“I’m fine, Hens, just do it,” he replied evenly.
I smiled at him as I raised one of the rats to my lips and let it gently sniff my nose before I crouched down in front of Gloria.
“In you go, little fella,” I said softly to it as I placed it at the opening of her new hole.
It took a little coercion before it finally started to burrow it’s way inside, and when she hollered, I used the other rat to gag her. It was funny to watch the little legs kicking as it squirmed a bit before disappearing down her throat.
We stood there and we watched as the rats ate her from the inside out, peeking their little snouts out of her holes until they stopped coming back to the surface.
“Feel better?” Tieran asked me as he wrapped an arm around my waist.
I looked up at my little brother with so much pride in my eyes, that I felt like would burst.
“I’m really glad you came in when you did,” I confessed softly.
“I promised you forever, Hens. That’s what I intended to give you.”
___
The roof of the house is shaky but so far, we’re doing okay.
Tieran picks at one of the boards, his fingernails scratching along the material, making an odd sound.
“You think it’ll hurt?” I ask him as I rest my head against one of his shoulders.
“Nope.”
Liar,I think fondly. I know he doesn’t want me to be afraid right now, but the only fear I have is going to sleep in this life and waking up without him in the next one.
“Will you hold my hand, Tieran?”
He dutifully takes one of my hands in his, raises it to his lips, kisses gently, and nuzzles my forehead.
“Forever, Hens. Just like we promised.”
I look up into his eyes and smile, a tear trickling down my face as the roof groans and some of the beams buckle.
“I’ll never let go,” I promise him as I bury my face into his shoulder. “I love you, Tieran.”
“I know, Hens. I love you too. Forever.”
The last beautiful words spoken by the most beautiful human being I had ever known.
As the flames shoot up and claim the roof, us along with them, Tieran wraps an arm protectively around me as our bodies crash down into the fire we set in the middle of Gloria’s kitchen.
In a world where we shouldn’t have survived. Where we were conditioned to hate each other, humanity, and everything around us, but we couldn’t hate each other.
We were all we ever had.