PAINT IT RED (MikhAiah)

"Fishes live in the sea, as men do a-land; the great ones eat up the little ones." —William Shakespeare

***

AIAH

The screams sound like music, and Maloi shudders beside me. "How'd she do that with the paint?"

"I can't answer that. They'll be asking you to solve that mystery. Wouldn't want you figuring out too soon." I grin over at her as she rolls her eyes.

Colet, like me, has had many years to plan this. She's mastered several crafts, and the mind-fuckery is just getting started.

Three years ago, we committed to it and started planning it all out. But we'd been fantasizing it and creating hypothetical revenge plans. It was easy enough for me to string together one massive plan, and when I took it to Colet, she just made it that much better by infusing all her ideas.

"I guess you won't tell me about the cameras or the red fountains either, will you?" she asks as she drives.

"I already helped you with your forensics on JM so we could leave sooner. I'm not leaving Mikha alone for that long. But I'm not helping you more than you need help."

She groans.

"Lube is what you told me the reason was for the lesser scorched places on his body. You didn't give me much else to go on. Why burn him?"

"Figured he needed to get an early dose of what hell would be like," I say absently.

"Why turn the fountain red? Can you tell me that?"

"It's not just the fountain. It's the entire town's water supply. Don't worry. It's not toxic. I wouldn't risk the children and Mikha to that."

She groans, and I grin, knowing she has a love/hate relationship with me right now. Weirdly, she's the only female sorta-friend I've ever had, other than Karylle. We weren't ever too close, since Karylle was much older. But she was my sitter when I was growing up and we talked.

Never mind. I've never had a real female friend.

"Want to tell me what you learned from JM's crime scene that I didn't tell you?" I muse.

"I learned you didn't walk on the soft ground to leave a boot impression."

"Always a bonus when I get to skip those heavy boots. Love a good sidewalk."

"There was nothing to implicate you," she says on a sigh.

"I'm too good for that. I was just curious what you learned."

"Can we talk about something normal?" she asks, exasperated.

I turn to face her a little better. "Like girl talk? Girls talk about penises, right?"

She grimaces. "Considering you dismember them from bodies, I'd rather not discuss penises with you. Forget I said anything," she grumbles.

"Oh, never mind. Mikha mentioned you were into girls, so I guess penises don't really appeal to you."

She grows quiet for a minute before finally saying, "Mikha has a big mouth."

I shrug, settling back into my seat as I watch the people scream and run, just as I knew they would. I love technology. Delaney's terror is conveniently wired to my phone.

The Boogeyman doesn't have shit on me.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of who you are," I tell her quietly.

"I'm not. I just don't like people telling my business. Besides, I don't really put myself in a box. I'm not one hundred percent sure of my sexuality. It's just...men are attractive but harder to trust than women," she confesses softly.