King Carrion by Rich Hawkins Read Free Book Online

mad.
         Ellie frowned. “They said you were delirious when they found you. Scared of something. Apparently you sat down on the pavement and cried. Told them that monsters were after you.”
         His face burned red, and he couldn’t meet her eyes. He looked at the floor between his feet. “How did I end up here?”
         “They found my address on a piece of paper in your jacket pocket. So, here you are.”
         “I’m sorry,” Mason said.
         “They knocked on my door at three in the morning. Woke me and half the street. You were almost passed out in the back of the squad car.”
         He groaned and shook his head. “I am really sorry.”
         “I told them you were homeless. They were going to put you in a cell for the night.”
         “Thank you.” He kept his face lowered.
         “It’s nothing,” she said. “But you’ll have to leave soon. You can’t stay here. You know that, right?”
         He finally looked at her. The pensive shape of her mouth and the way she appraised him, with what was could only be embarrassment, broke his heart.
         “I know,” he said. “I’ll leave once I’m dressed.”
         Ellie drew in a breath and released it slowly through her mouth. She stayed by the door, keeping her distance.
         “What happened to you?” There was genuine concern in her voice, and Mason loved her for it. But that unreciprocated love was like cold tendrils around his spine. Feelings change. Love dies. The remains of lost relationships were blackened hearts and broken promises.
         Mason felt sick.
         Ellie said, “You stank of weed when you arrived. Had you been drinking? I know it’s none of my business what you use now…” Her voice trailed away and she folded her arms.
         “I’m not using anything; I only smoked a bit of weed.” 
         “Were you high?”
         “Are you my mother now?”
         “You’re a dickhead, Mason.”
         “Sorry,” he muttered. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
         “You’re a mess.”
         “I know,” he said. “I know.”
         Mason dipped his chin to his chest. He was accustomed to being ashamed, and self-hatred was a familiar travelling companion these days.
         “You can stay the night, if you want,” Ellie said. “It’s late in the day, and I can’t throw you out on the street this close to dark. I’ll make you a cup of coffee and something to eat, if you want. You stink to high heaven, so feel free to have a shower and get cleaned up. Then I want you gone first thing in the morning, Mason, understand? I don’t know what happened to you last night, and I don’t much care, but you can’t go on like this. You need to sort yourself out and move on.”
         He opened his mouth to speak, because he wanted to tell her about the things he’d seen last night, but in the end he just nodded in silence as she left the room.
         The door shut. He sat there and listened to her walk away.
     
    *
     
    Mason showered and dressed. Last night’s memories came in stop-motion images. Being hunted. Being chased. Calvin’s scream as he was taken. The dead family that wasn’t dead.
         His limbs began to tremble, and he sat on the bathroom floor for a short while. Acid frothed in his chest; the worst case of heartburn in living memory. A haze of steam obscured the ceiling. The warm wet air. The dripping in the shower.
         He thought about returning to Zeke’s place to try and retrieve his rucksack. He wondered if Zeke and Calvin would ever be seen again, and if anyone would miss them. Would anyone even notice? Would the world notice if he went missing? He didn’t like to think about that too much.
         Maybe the police would return later and ask him questions he couldn’t answer.
         He retched and vomited stringy saliva into the toilet. He lowered the seat then placed his brow upon it and