Page 31 of Sincerely, Butterfly

The sneer on my face quickly morphs into a smirk when the realization that she's going to die fills her eyes with a bright, glossy terror.

It sends a rush through me, and pure contentment settles into my bones.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I start. “Itwillbe me. I’ll fucking make sure of it. You’re not going to be their anything, Scarlett. You are not worthy enough to stand at their side because you don’t care about them, only what they could offer you. They never wanted you before, and they sure as hell don’t want you now. You were with them tonight for your humiliation, nothing more. Not because they wanted you, but because of me. They chose you because of the way you’ve treated me. They hate you because you hate me. They’re my dark avenging angels, always protecting me from the shadows.”

Her eyes roll back, and she stumbles, trying to keep herself upright. I watch her body grow lax before falling to the ground, and making me lose my grip on my knife.

I stand over her body, staring down at her lifeless corpse.

She’s gone. She’s dead.Fucking finally! Trust me, I did the world a favor.

I blink, and seconds tick by as the reality of what I just did sinks in.

“Ah, fuck!” I curse. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Bending down, I pull my knife free and wipe the blood on her thigh. “You just had to go and fucking piss me off.” I glare down at her gaping mouth, blood still spilling past her lips. “Look what you made me do. You’re a fucking mess, Scarlett. How the hell do I clean this up?”

My dad is going to kill me.Fuck. Okay, Nola, think. You’ve been around dead bodies plenty of times in your life. You’ve got this.

Skittles lands on the ground next to me, making me jump in surprise. “Shit,” I breathe out. “Hey, buddy. Good timing. Any idea what I should do about this?” I ask, nodding my head down at the body.

Skittles just cocks his head to the side, blinking up at me.

“You’re no help,” I mutter. “Alright, first things first, hide the body.” Checking over my shoulder, I make sure no one is close enough to stumble upon us before moving behind her head.

Grabbing her by the arms, I pull her into the mausoleum. “God, why the fuck are you so heavy?” I grunt, breaking out into a sweat. I drag her behind the sarcophagus, hoping it will hide her body long enough for me to go to my father’s workspace and grab the supplies I need to clean this up.

“You really are nothing but an inconvenience in my life.” I glare down at Scarlett. “Always causing more trouble than you’re worth.”

Leaving her there for now, I slip out of the mausoleum and close the door behind me.

“Shit,” I sigh heavily when I see the puddle of blood staining the dirt at the entrance. “You think anyone will notice?” I ask Skittles.

He lets out a chirping sound, and I sigh again. “Yeah, better not risk it.” Grabbing the hem of my shirt, I pull it off and lay it on the ground next to the blood.

“This is so gross,” I groan as I start to scoop up the bloody dirt and place it over my shirt.

Once I get enough cleaned up, I bundle the dirt up in my shirt and tuck it under my arms. “Come on, Skittles. We have a longevening ahead of us, and I’m relying on the fact that all those people are going to be too blitzed out of their minds to notice me disposing of a dead body.

Quietly and carefully, I make my way back to my car, making sure to avoid the partygoers. Thankfully, it’s dark and in the middle of the night. No one notices me, and if they do, it’s too dark to know exactly what I’m doing.

I grab one of the plastic shopping bags I keep in the trunk and place the shirt inside it. “Shit,” I complain again when I see the mess of my hands. “Honestly, I should know better when it comes to killing someone. The amount of evidence I’m leaving behind is astonishing.” Good thing I know how to fix my mistakes. A perk of having a dad who owns multiple morgues,and the fact that I’ve always been fascinated by death. Imayhave asked my father questions over the years about how one might get away with it, as well as watching an insane amount of true crime documentaries.

I wasn’t going to risk searching that up online and having the Feds on my ass. I’m not that stupid.

Although right now, I’m kind of proving myself wrong.

“This is why you don’t give in to your intrusive thoughts or impulses, Skittles.” I press the button to the trunk, letting it close on its own. “I’ll just have to clean the Jeep later. Nothing I can do about it now.”

CHAPTER

SEVEN

NOLA

With the streetsbeing practically dead, I make it to the morgue in under five minutes. It’s the main one my dad works from and the only one I have a key to.

Pulling around back, I park next to the back entrance. I’m on a bit of a time crunch, but I can’t rush or panic because that leads to making mistakes.

As I grab the bloody dirt-filled shirt from the trunk and head inside and down to the basement.