T.J. Klune

The Bones Beneath My Skin

Cassidy Nolan

You won’t understand. At least not right away. And that’s okay. You may even think I’m a liar, and that’s okay too.

All I ask is that you listen until the very end before passing judgment. I have a story to tell you.

Of a place under a mountain. Of the minds of men. Of what it means to be human, to make a home out of a place where one should not exist.

And of what the future holds. For you. For me. For all of us.

Something about taking a sad song and making it better.

After, he laughed until he could barely breathe.

“Nate, just take it for what it is. Kindness. Sometimes people need it, even if they don’t know how to ask for it.”

There was the unmistakable click of a gun being cocked.

Something hard pressed against the back of his head, digging into his scalp.

A voice said, “You’re going to set the flashlight on the ground. And then you’re going to bring your hands up slowly. Lace your fingers on the back of your neck. If you try anything, if you reach for something I cannot see, or if you don’t do 

 as I’ve said, I will put a bullet in your head. Without question.”

“Howdy, partner,” the girl said. “My name is Artemis Darth Vader. It’s nice to meet you, I reckon.”

“It’s fine,” Nate muttered, wondering what he’d done in his life to get to this point. “They were old.”

“Not all old things need to be thrown away.”

“I knocked over a lamp by accident,” Art said. “It broke. I am supposed to feel bad because it didn’t belong to me, but I thought it was ugly and was going to break it yesterday but I forgot. So I accidentally did it today.”

“He will,” Art said. “He’s starting to like you, even though he normally doesn’t like anyone besides me. You can tell by the way he hasn’t pointed the gun at you in over ten minutes.”

Alex nodded stiffly. “We need to talk.”

That . . . was surprising. “Are you breaking up with me?” Nate asked before he could stop himself.

Alex, massively intimidating and scary Alex, began to braid the little girl’s hair.

“I’m keeping her safe,” he said, not looking up at Nate.

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