32. 2022

EMMA

"We had one gun, one blade, and enough blind fury to convince us we could take Marone alone. God…" Bunny chuckles, throwing herself into the chair, hands ripping at her knotted roots. "We were fucking fools, but at the moment, we just…we needed him to learn. The others did. Whether the world knows it or not, we taught our abusers a lesson. Maybe not all of them, but the ones that mattered most."

"What was going through your head as you two were preparing for this? What about Cade? Did he say anything to you?" The hands picking at her scalp still, but she remains facing the table. Seconds pass with her in this position, nothing moving, no sound but the slight gusts of her exhales.

I share a swift glance with Officer Cyrus, wondering if I asked the wrong questions. He mouths no, but his eyes hold the same concern. He even goes as far as to lean forward from his seat, ready to reach out, but she lifts her head at the last moment. Bunny eyes his outstretched hand with a sympathetic grin, almost distracting us from the light sheen of tears across stormy irises.

Waving away his touch, she folds in on herself, almost lost in thought. "All I could process was that we were nearly done. The finish line was right there, and once we crossed it, we'd be free. Actuallyfree. There would be no one looking for us once Marone was gone. We needed that."

Pausing, Bunny pushes her chair away from the table. Officer Cyrus decided not to cuff her today, so she's free to stand and pace the space across from me. "Cade… God, he was so good. He was better than the world deserved—than I deserved. All he wanted—all he ever told me was that he'd do whatever it took to make sure I felt safe. So…no, he didn't tell me anything, nothing but what he always said."

"What was that?"

A tear, a single one, falls then. "Until the end."

That's a phrase that has been repeated multiple times throughout this interview. Yet, when she says it now, it carries more weight than before.

"Tell me how it ended."