Page 180 of I Never Stopped Loving You

He picks up the blood-soaked hoodie, turns, and starts heading toward the front of the house to the staircase.

“You don’t have to help with the cleanup. I’ll deal with it later.”

He ignores me and continues up the steps.

“Jeremy…”

“Come on, Noah. Let’s get this shit done because you promised me dinner tonight.”

Oh yeah. I completely forgot about our conversation last night.

“Did you decide where we’re going?” I ask as I climb the last few steps into my bedroom.

He’s standing with his back to the bathroom and a pair of tweezers in his hand. I can see the mess from here. Dark red against the white tiles. The contrast is unmissable and undeniably blood.

He grabs my hand and, using the light from the skylight, begins to pull out the shards and drop them into the trash can he pulled over from the side of my bed.

“Well, I originally was thinking Italian, but I’m not feeling spaghetti and meatballs anymore. How about we just go to Texas Roadhouse? I think a dozen rolls sounds delicious right now.”

“How the fuck are you still skinny?” I ask, laughing as I push past him into the bathroom and grab the small broom and dustpan out of the linen closet in here.

“I go to the gym,” he says as he grabs my clothes and throws them into the bathtub.

He starts the water and lets the tub slightly fill up with cold water before shutting it off.

“When?”

“When I have time,” he snaps. “Now, do you have any salt, milk, or unsalted meat tenderizer? Any of those will work.”

“Unsalted…meat tenderizer?” I ask, confusion evident on my face.

“We all have our demons, Noah. I just know how to clean up after mine.”

He says it so nonchalantly. Maybe my cousin’s demons are like my own. Maybe we’re both fucked up. It wouldn’t surprise me.

“I have milk for sure, and salt.”

“Good. Go grab them both. We’ll try the milk first, and if that doesn’t work, we can try the salt.”

He takes the broom and dustpan from me and begins to sweep up the shards of glass, leaving me stunned. Anyone else would have prodded and demanded I tell them what happened. Hell, some might even threaten to call the cops with the amount of blood that is in this room…But not Jeremy.

As I make my way into the kitchen, I notice the trail of blood smears from the laundry room. I quickly grab a paper towel and some bleach and wipe up the floor.

Last night I dropped the mask just outside the secret panel which was still cracked open. The white skull is now splattered with crimson. I quickly open the panel and drop the mask onto the steps to take care of another day before making sure to clean up any traces of blood in the laundry room as well.

Maybe one day I can reveal my demons to him, but not today. No. I need to keep them buried…at least until I dispose of Rayes, but that will have to wait until tomorrow. I promised my cousin we’d go out for dinner, so that’s what we’re going to do.

“Hey, do you have any more paper towel rolls down there? It’s kind of a bloodbath. Ha! Get it…bloodbath,” he shouts down the steps.

His laughter echoes around the empty house, and I can feel the tension in my chest starting to ease. Hopefully, my demons will be sated for a little while. Otherwise, Parker might not last much longer.

CHAPTER 79

WILLOW

NOVEMBER PRESENT DAY

“Do you have to go back to work tomorrow?” I ask as I climb into Noah’s bed.