Epilogue

Kyle

The cruelest thing to do to a man is to cage his body. It is crueler still, when his body is a cage. From the neck down, I had nothing left. And from the neck up, a fleeting memory of an angel turned serpent to kill me. She had won. And I had nothing left. Living to die.

Julie

"I don't want to talk about it." I said firmly, pushing my bangs out of my face as if somehow it would hide the blush stinging my cheeks.

"Julie and Adam, sitting in a tree..." Rob called out in a sing-song jeer.

"Aw, cut her some slack, guys." Adam said, smiling as he wrapped his arm around me. It felt nice. Normal. Like it could keep out the dreams that left me shaken every morning. Keep away the devil. "She's never been in llllloooooovvveee before."

His comment was met with silence. I knew they were all thinking, unwillingly, of Kyle. I was too. It was hard to keep the memory at bay, although it seemed more like a bad dream with each passing day.

My bruises had long since faded. His house had burned down. He was in a state mental hospital. I was safe.

But I slept with a light on. With the door open. And my mother rarely let me leave the house without a bear hug so strong that it could kill a bear.

I had let my skateboard sit for months in the shadows, but the boys had decided that enough was enough. It was time to ride. Chase away my shadows. Let the trauma die. So that I could live again.

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