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“Wellness check,” he reassured and moved the phone away to shout orders at someone. “I need you to stay home for now. I have a uniformed officer coming to see you. His name is James Billingsley. We hadn’t received any kind of contact like this before, otherwise it wouldn’t feel so sudden.”
“Contact? From whom? Detective, you’re confusing me.”
“You are being watched. I can’t say exactly to what extent, and I’m not going to describe the details of what came across my desk, but we received indecent Polaroids of you.”
“What? Are you sure?” I gripped the edge of my desk, nausea coursing through me.
“There’s no real explanation for any of them, but they’re smeared with blood. No letter. I’m certain, Bexley. They came in an envelope about an hour or so ago. They aren’t stamped by the post; this was hand delivered. Who’s with you?”
“Everyone I know has gone to a party tonight.” My chest started aching with heavy beats.
“The Sigma party, yeah. You’re alone?”
“Yes, sir,” I confirmed, nearly crying. I didn’t feel alone; I felt watched again, as though someone were just out of reach and staring through me.
“After Officer Billingsley checks on you, is there anywhere you can go? Family local?”
I shook my head as he spoke.
“No, sir. My parents moved out of the area. I can’t visit them; I have midterms. I can’t just leave.” I started gathering clothes to change into. I slipped on Ghost’s shirt and put the phone back to my ear.
“Is there somewhere public you can be until your friends come home?”
“Uh, what about the campus library? There’s after hours and a monitor overnight, usually several students who have late shifts,” I asked as the sound of a keyboard filled the short silence.
“Yes, that’ll do. I’ll call you later for a check-in. Do not miss it.”
“Yes, sir.” With that, I dropped my phone on the bed and waited for the officer.
This fucking sucks.
Jai
I strummed a sensual chord on my guitar loud enough to drown out the noise coming through the floor.I’ll hear about that.
I’d run out of random shit to distract myself with. Gaming offered me screaming children, scrolling my phone left my brain in a goo, and I couldn’t focus on printed words to save my life. The only thing that took minimal effort and thinking was playing music.
The noise from the party filtered in as the last note faded. I groaned. I pushed it off long enough, as the sun set hours ago. Replacing the guitar back on the stand, I dipped through the door frame.
I was to be seen and that was doable.
I jogged down the stairs, moving around couples who were damn near eating each other on the steps. The way to the kitchen was crowded. A perk to being a walking tree was people naturally moved out of your way.
Plenty of people saw me in the living room.
I spotted the ice bucket of beer on the floor by the island, surrounded by dressed-up students. A startled brunette tripped herself as I reached around her.
“Oh my god,” she practically moaned as I righted her.
“Sorry about that.” I looked her over. She was dressed as a bunny and her ears were nearly off her head.
“You are sooo tall,” she exaggerated, intoxicated and not present. “Didya know?” She slurred her words as she swayed.
“Did I know that I was tall?” My face twisted, silently asking if she knew she was stupid. If I weren’t so tightly wound from earlier, I would’ve hidden it better. She nodded her head, but unlike a normal gesture, she just kept nodding.
“Maybe drink water the rest of the night?” I suggested and left her there like a bobblehead doll. Beer in hand, I glanced around the kitchen. There were so many conversations going on, people playing table games, and making a show of drinking stunts. My skin started to itch.
I moved through the back foyer and opened the patio door when early 2000s hip-hop filled the air and girls started screaming and cheering. Closing off the celebrations, I took a deep breath of the crisp air. The scent of pine and after rain smell.Is there a name for that?
