She was in the kitchen, surrounded by broken dishes and various pans once housed in the drain rack by the sink. Houseplants were strewn about, their ceramic pots cracked open like eggs, and dirt once housed inside now covered the floor. Ruby knew she hadn’t come into the kitchen under her own power, and upon noticing a sizable dent in the refrigerator, her suspicions were confirmed. Ruby hadn’t walked into the kitchen. Bennett had thrown her in.

Blocking out the refrigerator compressor's drone, Ruby listened to the other sounds in the apartment, and she bit back her tears. There were only two heartbeats to be heard, and both were much too strong to belong to Lisa.

Ruby carefully got to her feet. The three mouthfuls of blood she’d taken from Lisa had been enough to repair her broken limbs, leaving behind nothing more than a few aches and scars that would disappear by the morning. Ruby looked out over the bar top and saw Bennett kneeling by Lisa’s side. Ruby searched her pockets to find her phone, and her eyes filled with tears when she saw the time. It had been nearly two hours since they’d arrived at Lisa’s apartment.

The world no longer existed for Bennett. There were no other people, no other lives, no other concerns, no other cares. Lisa’s death had created a black hole in Bennett’s heart where nothing lived, nothing survived, and nothing existed, and Bennett was glad for it. She didn’t want to see light. She didn’t want to hear a sound. And Bennett didn’t want to feel anything ever again…not ever again. But grief is not kind. It’s punishing and repetitive, almost numbing at times until, in the blink of an eye, there’s so much pain you fight to even breathe.

Bennett pulled in another shuddering breath, and as she did, she heard a noise. She looked up and saw Ruby, disheveled and covered in dried blood, walking from the kitchen. Their eyes met, and Bennett’s backbone lengthened. “Get out.”

“Why didn’t you kill me?” Ruby said, taking a step.

“It won’t bring her back, and you didn’t do this.”

“But I—”

“You made a mistake,” Bennett growled. “A tragic, horrible mistake that cost Lisa her life, but taking yours…taking yours isn’t something Lisa would have wanted. She also wouldn’t have wanted me to avenge her death, even though that’s exactly what I plan to do.”

Bennett stood up, and out of instinct, Ruby backed up.

“I’m not going to harm you, Ruby,” Bennett said, her tone holding no inflection. “Your brother, on the other hand, will not be so lucky.”

***