Chapter 26

She's gone. SHE'S GONE! SHE'S FINALLY GONE!!! IM BY MYSELF AGAIN. Riley is now gone like the others. Nothing but a memory. I'm glad no one got to know or miss you. Wouldn't want to put them through that heartache. Rest up, Riley. You've been fighting a war you can't win. I know you're tired, you must be. View this as a way of me putting you to sleep, like an animal or...giving you mercy. You were never going to beat me. Never. But it's okay. You can rest now. Goodbye Riley.

I get out of the shower and poke my arm, the one with the three cuts. The cuts themselves sealed in the steaming hot bath I took that day, but it still hurts. I dry my body off and look into the mirror. My white hair on the left of me was pure and somewhat a memory. I need a new color. Maybe...dark red. Yea... yea I like that a lot. I go under my bathroom sink to grab the first aid kit and take the bandage that was inside to wrap my arm that I cut. Just in case, ya know?

I'm sure the bodies have bled out by now. Oh but it might get messy like Auntie...wait no. No blood, no splatter! Plastic wrap on the floor, no smell of iron coming off the blood! Wow, I'm smart. Oh wait...where can I cut the body...oh the rest of the plastic. Okay, let's start then! Oh wait, to save time, I can just pour the blood in a bucket, then separate the plastic after I take out the teeth then sand off the finger prints and disfigure them Before I put the teeth in the bleach mix. But where would I put the bodies? Can't go back to the same woods where I buried Auntie...it would be dumb of me to bury the bodies in the backyard or the campsite that auntie made for herself. Ocean? But how would I get there? Car? Ezekiel's Car!! I still have to get rid of it. Keys are in my bedroom along with the gun. Let's handle one problem at a time. First:the bodies. I get my tools and execute the plan. Blood in bucket, smooth fingertips and toes, faces HORRIBLY disfigured,teeth soaking in a bleach solution. I wonder what Zen is doing. I hope he's okay, I know he isn't the happiest with me right now. I'll make it up to him though, I promise. Hmm...maybe I should let him...take my virginity. It feels like I was lit on fire. But maybe I really should. I want him to be my first and only and I want him to know that. Elizabeth didn't count. She was never in the equation. And that's why I'm dragging her ass to Ezekiel's Jeep as we speak.

I grab Ezekiel's keys from upstairs and Slowly but surely I drag her up the stairs and out the door to the car, where I shove her in the trunk. I do the same with Ezekiel. Oh! Elizabeth's phone. I should bury that with her. I think she left it on the couch. I go and get it while grabbing the shovel and just chuck it on her decaying body. I close the trunk and take a minute before driving off. Wow, Good job, Xena. You did pretty well. Oh jeez, thanks Xena. I think I did good myself too. I shift gears and drive to the nearest store. I enter, then pick up two bags of sodium Hydroxide. I load them into the car and drive off. I keep driving and driving until I'm basically lost near a random ass forest. There was a sign next to the entrance. "Evergreen National Park." Okay well I guess they are going to be buried in a national park.

I drive on the edge of the forest until I'm about 20 minutes away from the street. I find a nice open and isolated area. I park the car, open the trunk and start to dig a wide whole 10 feet deep. After doing all that, cut open the plastic and open it up a bit before I slide the plastic wrapped bodies into the whole next to each other. I then pour both bags of sodium hydroxide on top of their bodies into the slits. God, this stuff really stinks. I then cover up the bodies with the dirt and pat it down with the shovel. Now I have to figure out what to do with the car....the car the car..... I could burn it. No that could make it blow up. Random explosions can lead to news coverage. Coverage can lead to investigation. I might just have to keep the car... or drive it into a fucking lake. I mean..I can always use a car to drive around with a group right? Just change the license plate. Then we should be good. I get in the car and stop at the same store I bought the sodium and stop for red hair dye. Kinda dark but not burgundy, if that makes sense. Oh wait I should get a haircut too! Kinda like the one Zen gets, I like that one. But not all the way up. Next stop, the Barber shop!

I arrive there and wait patiently for my turn. I'm antsy and excited so I pat my thighs and kick my feet as I look around. It smelled like rubbing alcohol and the constant buzzing of razors while someone swept the floor clean of cut and loose hair. The lights on the barbers individual mirror was bright and the tv was on while a random movie played. I looked around some more at all the clients and realized I stick out like a sore thumb. Not only am I the only female but I'm a pale white female amongst young black men.

The barber I was waiting for finally calls me over and I take my seat in his chair joyfully.

"So What would you like, young lady?" He asked me. His voice was low but warm.

"So I wanted to cut the sides and the back of my hair but not in a high top way. Just to my temple is Good." I reply.

"Oh so a high taper fade. Or a temple fade."

"....Mhm!!" I have no idea what he's talking about. I should've taken Zen with me. Without any hesitation, he parts my hair and ties it up in a ponytail. He puts the cold clippers to the back of my head and turns it on.

"Relax, mami. I got you. I'll make this cut look nice, don't worry about it." He reassures me as I see locs of my hair drop to the floor. 20 minutes pass and he's finally finished. He spins me around to the vanity mirror and it's just the way I wanted it!

"Oh my god, thank you so much!"

"No problem. $15." I pay him immediately and grab my stuff off the chair.

"Thank you so much." I say as I leave and head home. I take the hair dye and apply it to the white side of my hair. I put a shower cap on and wait a couple hours to wash it out. When I looked in the mirror, it was perfect. It was me. Black and Blood Crimson red. I couldn't help but to smile!

Goodbye forever.

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