Edible Complex ꩜ Yellowjackets

[008] nothing hurts more than a friend

                                   "It wants us to, Suki. It wants us to eat," Courtney answers calmly. And that was the most terrifying part of all.

                                   "No," Suki shakes her head.

                                   Courtney starts crawling towards Suki and all she could do was begin to crawl away herself. But Courtney quickly manages to overpower her, now crawling on top of Suki until she was hovering above her. Some of the blood still running down Courtney's chin landed right on Suki's cheek.

                                   "It's inside all of us. It's especially inside of you. It likes you, Suki.  It's been waiting a long time for you and the rest of us. But especially you. We're right at home. Here, we'll always be together forever. That's what you want, isn't it? For us to be together?" Courtney continued.

                                   This wasn't the Courtney she knew. It was a monster wearing her face. And it was using the one person she loved to get inside of her.

                                   "Stop!" Suki shouts, trying to fight Courtney. Trying to fight the wilderness.

                                   Suki remembers waking up in a panic after that, waking Courtney up in the process. Suki couldn't look at Courtney for a while after that. She was unsure as to what the dream meant. If it was just another freaky nightmare like the others or if it meant something. But right now, it didn't matter. What mattered was properly burying the bodies and holding a little funeral for them.

                                   Suki could still remember her mother's funeral. It had been the worst time of her life. She had cried so much that by the time the funeral came around, she couldn't even cry anymore. They had to do a closed casket, given how her body had been lost to the water. There weren't a lot of people in town who showed up, save for Courtney and her family. And even then, Courtney was the only one who cared. Everyone else was convinced that Suki's mom was a lunatic and it wouldn't be long before Suki joined her.

                                   She's silent, sticking close to an equally silent but emotionally numb Courtney as the service began. All of the girls were circled around the graves, staring down at them as Van started talking.

                                   "Before we took off, I heard Rachel say that she was going to see Oasis at the Meadowlands next month. She was really excited. And she's never gonna hear Wonderwall again," Van declared, saying the only things she and the others knew about her.

                                   "Come on," Laura Lee offered. "Let's join hands."

                                   Suki instantly holds onto Courtney's hand on one side and Natalie's with the other. Courtney glared at Natalie who pretended not to feel the girl's intense stare on her.

                                   "Rachel, you just moved up from JV, so we didn't really know you. But, in Trig, you never confused your secants and cosecants. You seemed really smart. Anyone else?" Laura Lee recalled.

                                   "I saw her carry a flute case once," Van added, sounding like she was about to burst into tears.

                                   The other girls started crying after that and  it takes every last bit of strength inside of Courtney not to roll her eyes. She was struggling to find the care and remorse needed for a situation like this.