Who am I kidding? Elias isn't actuallyseeinganyone. He doesn't have feelings like a normal person.
I walk from the psych building through the quad, and then to the parking garage. Psych was my last class of the day, and I wasn't lying about needing to pick up some textbooks from the bookstore on the far end of campus.
I really should eat, too. But every time I think of food, I think of Miles lying on his back in the grass.
Or sitting on Elias's bedroom floor with my tits out and Dax's dick in my mouth while he watches me.Seal it with a kiss.
And then if that isn't bad enough, I think of his body washing up on shore, and panic sets in, like it is right now. There isno fucking way I'm getting out of this alive. I can't fucking breathe.
I spot my car at the far end of the parking garage, and although it's the middle of the day, it's still dark and empty enough in here that the fear and panic cause me to break out into a run. By the time I reach the vehicle, I get the idea that maybe I'll just drive for a while. I'll leave campus and clear my head. I could walk my old neighborhood, stop and get some fries and a grilled cheese from my favorite café in Mount Pleasant.
I pull the door open, tossing my bag into the passenger seat. I notice the smell first—rotting, spoiled, almost like I'd left food in the car, but worse. After inspecting the front seat and center console, I look in the back and scream.
Blood and chunks of flesh paint the back seat of the vehicle. I grab my bag and quickly jump out of the car, slamming the door behind me, breath heaving, backpedaling until I hit the cement wall and drop to the floor. I tear at my hair and scream again, gagging, the scent still permeating my nostrils, and if my stomach weren't so painfully empty, I'd vomit. Instead, I sit there, violently retching, and once it finally stops, I sit on the concrete, pulling my knees into my chest. I realize I can't stay here—I can't let someone find me here like this, I can't let them see the car, but I can't move.
It's not real.
That's what finally gets me to pull myself up off the ground—it can't be real. I'm having a break from reality, and there's nothing there. Forcing myself to stand, slowly and on unsteady legs, I approach the back of the car. I squeeze myeyes shut, taking a deep breath before peering into that back window and…
It's all still there. Fuck.
I duck down, sitting beside the wheel well, and try to figure out what the fuck I'm going to do now. Hiding from it certainly isn't going to solve the problem. And then there's something else I hadn't even considered.
Someonedid this. Why would someone do this?
Wasn't my car locked? I remember pushing the unlock button as I approached the vehicle, but that doesn't mean it wasn't unlocked already.
I need help. As much as I don't want to, I take out my phone and text the only person who might possibly give it to me.
I hear footsteps approaching before his voice. "Saige? Are you—" He pauses after rounding the back of the vehicle and spotting me on the ground, hugging my knees to my chest. He's wearing a black t-shirt that fits snug across his muscular chest, his tattooed arms bare. "Okay…" Dax extends his hand, and I take it, allowing him to pull me to my feet. "What happened?"
I bite my lip, glancing around the parking garage, ensuring it's still empty, and then back at Dax. "Look in the back."
He narrows his eyes before leaning over me, peering into the back of the vehicle. "Um…" He presses his lips together, brow furrowed, and paces behind the car for a few seconds. "Okay. Give me your keys." I pull the keys from my front pocket, and he takes them, walking around to the driver's side of the vehicle. "Get in the car, Saige."
I think I must have heard him wrong, but then he gets in and starts the engine, rolling down the windows. Slowly, I walk around the back and get into the passenger seat.
"Do you see it too?"
"Yes, I see it," he says calmly.
"Well, why would someone do this?! What does it mean? Is it human?!" I shout, gesturing wildly.
"Ripley…"
"Someone saw us! Someone knows. They're going to tell. Or they're going to kill me. I—"
"Saige!"
I know he's trying to shut me up, but I can't stop. "—should have called the police and told the truth. It's going to be worse now. And he has a family. His parents are probably looking for him, and it's my fault. Oh, my god, what if he had kids? I didn't even—"
"Saige!" Dax reaches out and grabs me by my crotch, squeezing hard, and I freeze. "Do I have your attention now?"
I nod. "Yes."
"Good. Take a breath…"
I do what he asks, breathing in and then out again slowly.
