Volcanoes by Nicole Hamlett

known that threatening you with your mother would have worked, I would have done it two days ago. You need to stop drinking."
    "I'm not – okay, yes. I do need to stop drinki ng. I just – " I collapsed onto my bed and stared up at the ceiling. "I'm not sleeping. I can't get the image of Brandon's body pinned to my wall out of my head, Drew. It feels like the most horrible thing I've ever seen. He never even did anything to dese r ve that - other than just knowing me.  It's killing me inside that I ’ m responsible for so many deaths."
    Queue pity party.
    "Snap out of it, Grace!" He shouted at me.
    I cringed and then promptly burst into tears.
    "You didn't cause any of this. You do not c ontrol other people's actions. You know who caused this? Nyx. She's the one pulling the strings. Her kids are the ones causing this destruction and killing off our Hunters and the people on this planet. You're just not that powerful, babe - so pull your s h it together."
    My eyes were wide as saucers. This was the Drew that I used to know. Where did he come from? He'd been missing for months.
    He scowled at me and ground out, "I haven't gone anywhere. You just decided to be a bitch and cut me out of your life. "
    I gasped. "I have not been a bitch!"
    "No? What do you call the whole 'ignore and dodge Drew at every opportunity' act that you've been putting on? And then you started assigning me character defects to make yourself feel better."
    He raised an eyebrow, da ring me to deny it. Unfortunately, he was right. Shit. I hated it when he was right.
    "Fine. I've been a bitch. I'm sorry."
    "It would be a better apology if you weren't snarking it at me." He rolled his eyes and left the room.
    I forgot about the coffee an d retreated back to my room. At least there, I could lock them out and hide. The rest of the house felt like a carnival these days. I could hear the barker shouting in my head.
    "Step right up! Nail Grace Murphy between the eyes and win the prize!"
    I shut t he door and looked around at the disaster that awaited me. Clothes piled up on the floor and a thick layer of dust coated every visible surface.  I didn't care. I flopped down on the bed and pulled my knees up to my chest.
    The urge to crawl under my cover s and hide was strong. However, the chances that I'd fall asleep and have to face Hypnos kept me from giving in.  Instead I stared at the ceiling and pondered this latest twist.
    Had I assigned a completely different character to Drew so that I wouldn't lo ve him anymore? It made sense in a twisted Grace-like way. I had a habit of skewing things to make them easier for myself.  Damn. It looked like I had some serious amends to make in my future.
    I don't know how long I laid there thinking about past behavio rs but eventually I drifted off to sleep. Other than the occasional nightmare about something happening to Dylan, nothing untoward happened and I awoke feeling refreshed and surprised.
    It was late afternoon and lazy shafts of sunlight drifted through my v ision. I was warm and cozy in my bedroom and the urge to stay here and bask in the glow of the well-rested nearly won against the need to pee.
    I rolled off the bed and padded into the bathroom and took care of business. It couldn't have been more than a m inute when a very male voice interrupted my moment of solitude.
    "I see that you slept," the bass boomed.
    "Are you standing outside of my bathroom door," I grouched, eyes closed.
    "Yes. What of it?"
    "Really? You're going to stand outside my bathroom door while I pee and talk to me. What are you? Three? Can a girl get a moment of peace?"
    "Actually, no. You've been half drunk for the last three days and the half that wasn't drunk was sleep deprived. It was like talking to a mental patient, so I gave up. I ne ed to have a conversation with you before you hit the bottle again."
    I gasped in outrage. "What? I have not been – Oh right. Yes I have." I sat up a little straighter on the toilet and proclaimed,