Page 88 of Firefly
At least that life still feels halfway survivable.
By the time I unlock my apartment door, dawn is threatening the skyline already. My body aches while I kick off my boots and collapse on the mattress face first.
The room feels too quiet.
Cold and empty.
My brain still drifts toward Ophelia despite everything.
My Firefly.
I picture her curled beside me beneath these sheets. Bare legs tangled with mine. Blonde hair spread across my pillow while she sleepily complains about me stealing blankets.
The thought punches me straight through my chest. Because somewhere along the way… that became a dream.
Not money. Not revenge. Not power. Her—just her.
Maybe one day I’ll get my shit together enough to deserve that kind of life.
Maybe one day I’ll stop sabotaging every good thing I touch long enough to keep my girl.
Maybe I’ll put babies in her and buy a little house somewhere far away from Brimstone where no one knows our names or our baggage.
A man can dream right?
Even dreams don’t survive long in this city.
My eyes finally close while sunrise bleeds through the blinds, and for the first time in weeks… I fall asleep thinking about a future instead of revenge.
The next morning, I’m sitting in the back of chemistry class with my hood up, pretending to listen, while the TV mounted in the corner flashes the tattooed guy's face.
Missing.
Not dead. Not murdered. Not brutally beaten into a bloody stain behind the warehouse because he touched something that belonged to me.
Just… missing.
“Authorities are asking anyone with information regarding the disappearance of twenty-five year old Marcus Valley to come forward…”
Twenty five? Twenty five.
“Married with a child on the way,” the reporter continues, and my eyes snap to the TV.
What the fuck was a twenty-five-year-old doing at a warehouse party?
Let alone a married man who fucked an eighteen year old girl?
What the fuck?
A girl near the front gasps softly.
“Isn’t that the guy from the warehouse parties?”
Another kid shrugs. “Probably OD’d somewhere.”
I stare out the window calmly while my pulse stays completely steady.
No guilt. None.
