process it. She wanted me to bow my head to the floor, here, in th

ting at Timmy. "His lips are turnin

creeping around his mouth. His chest barely moved. The snake's ve

y, they were nothin

, I lowered my forehead to the cold, dirty linoleum f

oked out, the words tast

t through the waiting r

nded. "And I want to s

gainst the floor. "I'm sor

k and realized she was filming me with he

in laughed. "Th

ut. But the image of Timmy's blue lips was a glacier, fr

rds a poison I had to swallow. "I'

like an eternity. Finally, I lifted my head, my

my voice a broken whisper

ile on her face. "Almost. One more thing. I want you to

onster. A t

rike my own face when I glanced at Timmy.

ing wa

shley, ignoring everything. I r

cool. T

was no sound. No gentle rhythm.

away. The faces of the strangers, of Ashley a

the silence in

as g

tinguished, replaced by a volcanic, white-hot rage that consumed everythi

moment, forged in the crucible