Carmine scrolls slowly, letting each one sink in.
imagine waking up next to THAT
this is literally the scariest thing ive ever seen on the internet
that eye tho... how does he sleep
he doesn't lol he just stares at the ceiling like a demon
Phoenix makes a low sound like someone just punched him in the gut.
I don't react. Because I'm not here anymore.
The dark room has me now. That quiet space in my skull where nothing reaches, nothing hurts, nothing exists except the distant awareness of my body breathing.
In and out. In and out.
Automatic functions continuing without my input.
I'm not seeing anything on the screen. My gaze is fixed on a crack in the wall that's shaped like a lightning bolt. Interesting. Never noticed that before.
Imagine waking up next to THAT.
Bells woke up next to me this morning.
Her fingers in my hair. Her heartbeat against my cheek. Her warmth seeping through my shirt into skin that hasn't been touched gently in over a decade.
They're right.
No one should have to tolerate something like me.
The crack in the wall is really fucking detailed actually. Little branching lines spreading out from the main fissure. I wonder how it got there. Impact damage, maybe. Or just the natural settling of an old building.
"Rex."
Bells's voice. Coming from very far away.
I don't respond. I'm busy studying the crack.
"We need to talk about strategy," Carmine is saying. The words reach me like they're filtering through water. "The photos are everywhere. Every major platform, every gossip site, every corner of the Internet that thrives on cruelty. Trying to suppress them at this point would be like trying to un-ring a bell."
"So what do we do?" Phoenix asks. His voice is rough.
"That's what I'm trying to determine."
Bells shifts beside me. The movement tugs at the handcuff chain, a gentle reminder that I'm still technically attached to reality.
"People are already questioning them," she says.
Carmine's eyebrows lift. "Questioning?"
"The photos. Look." She leans forward, reaching for the tablet. Carmine lets her take it. "Here. And here. And—" She scrolls, fingers flying across the screen. "See?"
My gaze drags to the screen against my will.
no way this is real
has to be a zombie prosthetic