Chapter 9: Tooth and Fur

Elias

The quiet solitude of the cave wraps around me as I sit in contemplation. After Amy left, it was all I could do to keep myself from chasing after her, but sure enough, I found myself walking the streets. Not to find her, exactly, but to find an answer -- something that would lead me out of the mire of confusion and toward some kind of clarity. And there's only one place that affords me the peace I need to do that.

The echoes of my last conversation with Amy linger in my mind, and the air is thick with the weight of uncertainty. Usually the cave is a place of solitude and silence, but today every inch of the place reminds me of her. The tousled sheets where we spent the night taunt me from the corner, as if reminding me what I've just lost.

I want to find her, want to tell her I won't give up on us that easily, but the moment the thought enters my mind, it's followed by my dad's fierce warning.

"Fuck him," I spit into the darkness, my face twisted in a scowl hardened by years