Page 43 of Lilies from Hell

I gently set her down on the ground, intertwining our fingers once more. Ten minutes later, we were walking down a path surrounded by abandoned graves, half-melted snow, and dry leaves.

In autumn, darkness fell early, painting the sky with orange hues. Lena, behind me, watched everything in silence. When we stopped in front of the gravestone she had prepared for us, her lips attempted to hide a smile. She soon broke free from my grip to sit on the tablecloth covered in skulls and pink hearts. Then she picked up the bouquet of white carnations with red tinges that was next to a wicker basket and buried her nose in them.

“Does that mean you like it?” I asked as I took a seat next to her.

The sigh from her lips as she finished smelling the flowers made me focus my attention on her fingers covered by gloves.

“It depends. Is it a date or just a hangout as friends?” Her head moved to one side, looking at me with expectant eyes.

“What do you think?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“I suppose it would be the first thing if you had asked me earlier,” she replied, reaching into the basket and pulling out a thermos of hot chocolate along with a couple of steel thermal mugs and a packet of chocolate chip cookies. All with express feigned indifference.

I knelt on the damp grass by the tombstone. Taking her thermos-warmed fingers, I kissed them as she watched, curious.

“Would you do me the honor of going on a date with me, love?” I whispered on the back of her hand. The pet name I had decided for her barely caressed my lips, so she didn’t hear it, but it didn’t need to. Our eyes met for a millisecond, and I thought I saw the fascinating green of her eyes become even greener.

“When and where?” She asked with a big grin.

“This Friday. After classes.”

“Where?”

“I’m not telling you that,” I said, touching the tip of her nose with my finger. She turned her face away with an unfriendly expression, but as soon as she fixed her gaze on something, it changed to an amused one.

“Whose grave are we sitting on?” I followed her eyes until I noticed a name on the grave we were standing on. Jacques Tremblay.

“Someone rotting away,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders. My eyes lingered on the name for a few more seconds. Karma was a bitch.

I was his karma.

16

Something brushes my left ankle and I jump back slightly. I look down to see what touched me and, finding nothing, I turn my attention back to the screen of my phone. I stifle a scream when my ankle is held by a soft grip. Frightened, I try to pull it free until I fall to the floor. Then Grace’s face peeks out from under the bed with a big smile, showing her teeth.

“Surprise! I bet you weren’t expecting me here, huh?” she says as she crawls out from under my bed.

My face pales in seconds. I put a hand to my heart, feeling its frantic beating. I think I’m starting to hallucinate.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?” she asks, standing up and crossing her arms with a pout on her lips. I smile as I get up from the floor and we both melt into an embrace that could well have broken my ribs.

“How did you get in? When did you arrive? And why didn’t you say anything? You almost gave me a heart attack!” Grace lets out a loud laugh that only gets louder when she sees me.

“I missed you.”

“Me too, but when did you come? I thought you were still in Cancun with your father.”

“We came back yesterday. We almost had to run away. Things are really bad over there,” she says.

“Yes, I know, my father mentioned something. But are you okay? Did something happen?” Grace nods.

“It was boring as hell.” I look at her, raising my eyebrows with an incredulous look. “What? I didn’t even want to go, I only did it to please him and cheer him up a bit. He’s been down since the divorce.”

“And how are you?”

“Well, deep down I knew they would end up divorcing. You know my mother never liked this lifestyle. But I feel strange.” She looks away, twisting her lips. “I think I miss her.” I open my arms and immediately wrap them around her again, this time more tightly.

“You know you can always count on me, for anything,” I whisper in her ear. Our embrace only lasts until her desire to know gets in the way.