Read Online Bone: A Dark Billionaire Romance (With bonus book Exhibit!) by Stella Noir, Aria Frost - Free Book Online
Authors: Stella Noir, Aria Frost
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Bone has finished his work. It wouldn't be right."
Still I say nothing. Suddenly I feel claustrophobic. I'm aware of the denseness of the air, the rotten smell of death that surrounds us. I feel dust in my throat and begin to choke. I'm bent over retching into the black swirl of nothingness by my feet, my heart pounding hard in my chest.
"Maude", Christopher says. "Oh, Maude. I thought you knew."
Chapter 16
Maude
I 'm sat at his kitchen table gulping down water. I can't believe I thought the hand was real. What a dick. Real bone, but not bone from those twenty seven victims. It's a sick thing to have. A priceless addition to the collection. Fucking amazing.
"Who is he?" I ask. Finally, I can feel a bit of color coming back to my cheeks. I can't believe I pussied out like that, especially after knowing what Christopher is like. I should have guessed the lengths he'd go to for his obsession after the performance at Maria's house.
"I don't know really", he says. "I don't know where he comes from. I don't know much else but what he does. I don't know why he does it."
"But you know him", I say. "You said you knew him."
"It's complicated", he offers. I look at him suspiciously, trying to work out what he really means by that.
"You said he was going to kill again, that we'd see it. How can you know that?"
"Because I've been following him. I've been following him all of his life. Most of mine."
"Where?" I ask.
"Do you want to see it?" Christopher says, ignoring the question, his eyes going wide. "Do you want to meet him?" There is a silence neither of us can fill. It's like saying “do you want to see a car crash, a snuff film or a dead body?” The question is essentially rhetorical.
"Am I in danger?" I ask, unsure if it matters whether I am or not. Unsure whether the question is important anyway.
"Do you trust me?" Christopher asks, the corner of his mouth flicking up into a smile.
"That's not the question I asked."
It feels like we are about to commit murder, not go and witness it. Perhaps there isn't much of a distinction.
He shakes his head. "Then no, of course not."
"Then yes", I say, making sure the words come out before I have time to stop them. "I want to see it. I want to see it for real. I want to see Bone. I want to see him do it."
"Ok", he says quietly. And then with solemn conviction, and a flash of raw excitement in his eyes. "Let's go and meet Bone."
Chapter 17
Christopher
I haven't been entirely honest. I guess it's too late to turn back now anyway, even if I wanted to. When I look in the rear view mirror it's him that looks back, and when I reach over to squeeze her leg, it's Bone's hand I see doing it, not mine.
She's excited, I can tell that. I knew she would be. They're not too different Bone and Maude, I guess that's why he picked her. He always knew. He always knew where to find them. Killing is nothing if you have no-one to share it with. That's like painting a beautiful picture and keeping it in a drawer forever.
There were always the police and the press after the fact, and myself of course, but there was no-one to really share his work with while he was doing it. There was nobody standing alongside him while he stuck it into them, no-one watching that magical moment where life turns so spectacularly into the absence of it. Death apparent. The cusp at the very top. The lid over which we turn.
When I was eight years old, and I took the firecracker out to the end of my parents field, along with my sister's pet bunny rabbit, I stood there alone, and watched the frightened animal slowly come to terms with what I had done to it.
This is how lies form. They begin as an idea, then they merge into something much more concrete, and then all of a sudden, when you breathe life into them, they become as real as everything else.
I've told that story to a lot of people, in a lot of different ways. Sometimes I'm Kal, sometimes I'm Christopher, sometimes I'm the boy that has been banished from his
Still I say nothing. Suddenly I feel claustrophobic. I'm aware of the denseness of the air, the rotten smell of death that surrounds us. I feel dust in my throat and begin to choke. I'm bent over retching into the black swirl of nothingness by my feet, my heart pounding hard in my chest.
"Maude", Christopher says. "Oh, Maude. I thought you knew."
Chapter 16
Maude
I 'm sat at his kitchen table gulping down water. I can't believe I thought the hand was real. What a dick. Real bone, but not bone from those twenty seven victims. It's a sick thing to have. A priceless addition to the collection. Fucking amazing.
"Who is he?" I ask. Finally, I can feel a bit of color coming back to my cheeks. I can't believe I pussied out like that, especially after knowing what Christopher is like. I should have guessed the lengths he'd go to for his obsession after the performance at Maria's house.
"I don't know really", he says. "I don't know where he comes from. I don't know much else but what he does. I don't know why he does it."
"But you know him", I say. "You said you knew him."
"It's complicated", he offers. I look at him suspiciously, trying to work out what he really means by that.
"You said he was going to kill again, that we'd see it. How can you know that?"
"Because I've been following him. I've been following him all of his life. Most of mine."
"Where?" I ask.
"Do you want to see it?" Christopher says, ignoring the question, his eyes going wide. "Do you want to meet him?" There is a silence neither of us can fill. It's like saying “do you want to see a car crash, a snuff film or a dead body?” The question is essentially rhetorical.
"Am I in danger?" I ask, unsure if it matters whether I am or not. Unsure whether the question is important anyway.
"Do you trust me?" Christopher asks, the corner of his mouth flicking up into a smile.
"That's not the question I asked."
It feels like we are about to commit murder, not go and witness it. Perhaps there isn't much of a distinction.
He shakes his head. "Then no, of course not."
"Then yes", I say, making sure the words come out before I have time to stop them. "I want to see it. I want to see it for real. I want to see Bone. I want to see him do it."
"Ok", he says quietly. And then with solemn conviction, and a flash of raw excitement in his eyes. "Let's go and meet Bone."
Chapter 17
Christopher
I haven't been entirely honest. I guess it's too late to turn back now anyway, even if I wanted to. When I look in the rear view mirror it's him that looks back, and when I reach over to squeeze her leg, it's Bone's hand I see doing it, not mine.
She's excited, I can tell that. I knew she would be. They're not too different Bone and Maude, I guess that's why he picked her. He always knew. He always knew where to find them. Killing is nothing if you have no-one to share it with. That's like painting a beautiful picture and keeping it in a drawer forever.
There were always the police and the press after the fact, and myself of course, but there was no-one to really share his work with while he was doing it. There was nobody standing alongside him while he stuck it into them, no-one watching that magical moment where life turns so spectacularly into the absence of it. Death apparent. The cusp at the very top. The lid over which we turn.
When I was eight years old, and I took the firecracker out to the end of my parents field, along with my sister's pet bunny rabbit, I stood there alone, and watched the frightened animal slowly come to terms with what I had done to it.
This is how lies form. They begin as an idea, then they merge into something much more concrete, and then all of a sudden, when you breathe life into them, they become as real as everything else.
I've told that story to a lot of people, in a lot of different ways. Sometimes I'm Kal, sometimes I'm Christopher, sometimes I'm the boy that has been banished from his
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