Page 14 of Fame & Chaos

The second we walked into her house, I smelled it.

Alcohol.

Drugs.

Something sour underneath it all.

Then I saw her father lying motionless on the living room floor.

He was pale.

Too pale.

Almost gray-looking.

Foam clung to the edge of his mouth, and suddenly the entire room felt off in a way I can’t properly explain even now.

Indi stopped moving beside me.

She was completely still.

Like her body had just shut down.

“Indi,” I said quickly. “Call an ambulance.”

Nothing.

She didn’t even blink.

I rushed toward her father and dropped beside him, forcing myself to check for a pulse even though my hands shook violently.

Nothing.

His skin was cold.

Cold enough that deep down I already knew paramedics wouldn’t save him.

I slowly looked back toward Indi.

She stood there staring at her father’s body with absolutely no expression on her face. Her arms wrapped tightly around herself like she was physically trying to hold herself together. And the look in her eyes terrified me more than the dead body.

“Indi?”

Nothing.

I stood quickly and grabbed her arm gently, guiding her away from the living room. “C’mon.”

She moved mechanically beside me while I led her toward her mother’s bedroom. The door was locked, and panic crawled up my spine.

I knocked hard. “Mrs. Malone? It’s Caleb.”

Silence.

I knocked again, louder this time.

Nothing.

Behind me, Indi still hadn’t spoken a single word.