Chapter 16 Poked

• ELIO
• The phone rang in my hand, tipping it down in the early hours of the morning. I could not help but stare at my torn skin, the wound having clotted. This time I had taken it too far, I admitted to myself. A whole month raining nothing but hell. I shook my head, feeling more like a monster than a human. All that was left to shed my skin from my body so I could be the beast I truly was deep inside.
• I was ashamed. If Lethu could see the man I was, she would see why I left. I stopped myself just as I was about to count the days without her. Everything was dark. All I felt was anger, hate, and pain.