Excerpt: Hurl'd Headlong Flaming

The first time Hallelujah Mourning sees Milky Baghatur, she looks him up and down and bares her teeth.

“What a pretty smile you have,” says Milky, smiling back lazily. “This is Joe.” He wraps his hands more securely around the tall, thin man’s waist and looks at her hard. “He’s mine,” he says, and his voice is vicious, possessive, makes her shiver with its intent.

“Okay,” she says. “Awesome. My name’s Hallelujah.”

“Adem,” says Milky.

The man in his arms laughs a little, like it hurts him, and turns his face towards her blindly. “Milky,” he says, “his name is Milky, it’s Milky.”

“Yeah,” says Milky, “call me that,” but all of his attention is focused on Joe, one hand supporting his neck, the other still resting above his hip. “You forgot your glasses again,” he says, rubbing the nape of Joe’s neck, and it’s almost kindly; Hallelujah slips past them unnoticed.

She’s determined to explore, to find her way around this place that smells unfortunately sour underneath the antiseptic. She wrinkles her nose and scratches at the scab she keeps on her wrist. It was the first place she was ever kissed besides her mouth and she likes to remember him, whining under her. Two dates later she broke his nose and stole his wallet, but her family was on the move again, and she’d never yet gotten caught.

High school had been such a fucking mess.