changing fates | joel miller

003

TW: Mention of Suicide

the bite
⚚ ⚖︎ ⚒︎⚕

Grace was leaned against a shelf, tapping her foot to the rhythm of music, watching as Ellie was off in a corner, digging through a few boxes. It had been a little over an hour since they had first arrived at the mall, and despite it being a little past three in the morning, Ellie seemed wide awake.

"Put this on," She called over her shoulder, tossing the older girl a mask as she placed one over herself, "How do I look?"

"I feel like you purposefully gave me the smelliest one," Grace replied, her nose scrunching at the smell. "I can't even place what it is."

"No, this one smells like shit too," Ellie turned to the girl, her voice being muffled against the rubber, "I think it's a mixture of sweat and dust."

        If it was possible, the look of disgust only grew on Grace's face, leading for her to only let two fingers touch the... gorilla mask. And with a small flick, the mask flops onto the nearest counter, causing a loud plop to sound right after.

"Oh, yes, my two favorite smells," Grace laced her voice with sarcasm, taking a step towards the counter to lower the music. "If we are really lucky, maybe some lice made these their homes."

Ellie cocked her head, taking a step towards the girl as she placed both of her hands on the counter, pushing herself to sit on it.

"The head itching thing?"

"The head itching thing," Grace agreed, "A bitch to get rid of. Which is why—"

The youngest squinted her eyes shut as Grace pulled the mask off her head, tossing it on top of the other. And to follow her previous movements, she faced her back against the counter, getting on her tiptoes to sit on the glass.

            A round of silence loomed over the two girls, the music being the only thing to occupy the room. Ellie's legs gently swung back in forth as she leaned against her hands, staring at the things in the room.

"Are we really gonna do this?"

Despite the question being abrupt, Grace was anything but surprised to hear it. She knew it had been on Ellie's mind the moment they entered the building — at least, it stayed on her mind for the past few hours. Were they really going to do this?

           "Only if you want too," Grace bit back her lip, keeping her head forward as she spoke. "But if you want to go back, we can go back. They'll never even know we left in the first place." She barely continued, finally breaking her trance on the furthest wall, looking down at Ellie. "I won't tell anyone if you won't."

        Ellie stared back at her, her expression being anything but readable in the moment — something Grace hated.

"Why do you really want to leave?"

         "What do you mean?" Grace furrowed her brows, "I told you why."

         "I meant the real reason," Ellie responded, straightening herself up as she said it. "We've all heard about the fireflies and them bombing the QZ's. We already knew that — they told us." She stopped herself, scooting closer to Grace. "Why do you actually want to leave."