Basil Page #3

• Short story
• Horror

								


“You know it’s not killing. It’s not death. It’s just opening a new door,” Loretta said, “There is no death where we’re going to end up, just something bigger than life.” 

She held my hand to her chest, and I could feel it rise and fall, pressing against my calloused fingers. I breathed in sharply as she stuck her bleeding finger into my mouth, my tongue gently grazing the open wound, teeth ever so lightly pressing on her soft, pale flesh. 

“There will be no more blood,” she whispered.

“As long as I’m with you,” I said.

After softly sucking her finger, I let go and moved my lips to hers, a metallic taste coating both of our mouths. She pressed herself closer to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as my hands lowered around her defined waist, so gently as if she would break in half if I was any rougher with her. She moved her lips to the side of my face, and then my neck, planting soft kisses like seeds in springtime. 

“Why only now?” she whispered against the skin beneath my ear, before kissing the freckle that resided there. 

“When else?” I whispered back. 

I moved my hands up her back, her crow colored curls tickling my fingers. 

Time is cruel when you think about it too much, always taking, and wasting, and fleeing before you even realize there were so many better ways you could have cashed it in. I wanted to kiss her forever. I agonized at the thought of removing my hands from her body to finish our meal, my breath hitching as she pulled away. 

“We’ll have forever soon, okay?” she said quietly, a weak smile on the lips that had just kissed me. 

I knew she felt the same as I did. I knew she was compensating for the fact that she was as unsure as I was. Her face was brave, but her soul was trembling, like a little girl in a field of fresh basil. I could almost see a reflection of myself in her glassy eyes, but she turned her head too soon. 

……….

We had finished loading our final meals onto the back of Landon’s truck. Now it was time to head for our community dining area. It was outside, and the breeze carried the earthy smell to all of our noses. I sat beside my mother, bright-eyed and beaming at the thought of forever, and Loretta, who dug her fingers into my thigh. I’m going to die a virgin, I thought. Even though I followed Lyle, and was about to be a piece in a ritualistic group suicide, I was still a teenage boy, and I wished she was touching me gently instead of clawing me. 

There were ten long and grand tables that sat twenty each, under concrete that stretched over fresh dirt and grass. We were about a half a mile away from The Abundance, yet the smell still carried, somehow differentiated from the smell of sauce. We were seated in humble, dark green plastic chairs, in front of our plates, fragrant green and starchy, above a blue and white checkered, glossy tablecloth. Lyle sat before us, dressed in white like everyone else and in the same green chair, at a table for one. When he spoke, his voice carried.

“Hello, family.”

A wide yet soft grin was on his face.

“Hello, Lyle,” we said back, gleefully. 

Lyle stood up, adjusting the collar of his white button down, clearing his throat. There was something a little bit off about his eyes, but at the time I couldn’t put my finger on it. Stubble lined his jaw. 

“As you all know, this will be our last meal here, but certainly not our last meal together. I want to treat this like a day not too far off from our usual dinners. Although it is the most special day of our time here on Earth, I won’t stray from tradition. So let us commence with telling our neighbors our Three Beauties of the Day,” he said, that soft grin remaining, “For me, I’d say… the wind is pleasant, the air is filled with a pleasant aroma, and I get to be here…with the ones I love more than anything.” 

My teeth chattered slightly. Loretta’s nails dug deeper into my white dress pants, leaving a spot of blood. I couldn’t tell if it was from her bleeding finger, or if she had punctured my flesh. 

My mother turned her blonde head to me, a smile across her face, and grabbed my hand with both of hers. 

“I saw a dove today, I…hmm…oh! I perfected my stockinette, and I’ll see your father soon,” she said, face full of light. 

Ah. Dad. My chest burned a little bit. 

“It’s the perfect temperature outside, I…get to…be with my family, and I had my first kiss,” I said, peachy pink spreading across my nose and cheeks. 

Loretta loosened her grip and stared at me, doe-eyed, as my mother’s face grew even happier. 

“Wonderful!” she said breathily, a happy little tear forming in her left eye, quickly glancing at Loretta. 

She had always been a kind, and emotional woman. That never changed, being one of the many constants in my life. Even when my father fell off of our silo, she still found something to smile about each day, and mothered me wonderfully through it all. I love her with every fiber of my being, and every last string of viscera in my body. 

“I also had my first kiss today, I get to be here with you and Leo, and Lyle will guide me and all of the rest of us to eternal peace and abundance,” Loretta said. 

I gave her a smile, and stroked her cheek gently with my hand, which barely noticeably trembled. I didn’t even understand what eternal peace really meant. The things that brought me peace were all here, taking the form of jet black curls, blossoming fields, and my mother’s smile. 

The telling of Three Beauties stopped with the sound of metal clinking a crystal glass, akin to the ones in front of all of us, filled with homemade wine from the old farmhouse in the fields. Everything here was made with our own hands, in devotion to each other and Lyle to sustain us, giving the gift of camaraderie and love to the family we had created. When I thought about Lisa and Leonard working endlessly to provide us with delicious wine for months, I felt my heart sink once again. I looked down the second table, and saw Lisa, her fawn colored hands stained maroon at the fingernails.

“I just wanted to express my undying love for every last one of you,” said Lyle, “Truly, my heart is full, and swells at the sight of all of your beautiful faces. I know every single one of you so well. Your voices, your laughs, your fears, likes, dislikes, and so much more. I am…so grateful to know every single one of you, my family. I know that when we cross into the green pastures of forever, we’ll be hand in hand, sharing fruits, singing songs, and stoking fires. We will laugh, and love, and dance, and rest in the company of the ones we’ve grown to adore. The feelings I have towards my family are purer than the flowing water of any stream, or any cloudless sky. Do not fear. I raise a toast, and ask you to raise your glasses.” 

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