Page 13

TEN

INDI

It had been a couple days since I slept in Haze’s bed. We continued on as if nothing had happened, but I kept thinking about it. About him, my masked stalker, and Carter. My life had turned completely upside down, and I didn’t know which way was up.

I sat on the couch, eating a bowl of cereal, watching some shitty ass TV drama, when my phone lit up. I tried to ignore it, but it continued to buzz, again and again. “What the fuck?” I picked it up to see numerous messages flooding my inbox. I scrolled through, each one repeating the same thing over and over as my eyes began to water.

No. No, this can’t be real. This can’t be happening!

My phone buzzed again, and I saw an unread message from him . I tapped it and read it silently to myself.

Check the news.

My heart sank. I nearly knocked my bowl of cereal over as I grabbed the TV remote and switched channels to the local news. There, staring back at me, was a photo of Carter, and beneath it were the bold letters spelling out the same heartbreaking thing everyone has flooded my messages with.

Carter is dead.

I turned the volume up and listened as the reporter spoke. “The local man named Carter Harris was found dead earlier this morning by his housekeeper. Details on his death are yet to be released to the public as the victim’s well known and prominent family have now stepped in to ensure privacy during their time of grief. What we do know is his death is not from natural causes. According to the victim’s housekeeper, there were clear signs of a struggle. The police are working closely with the Harris family to ensure whoever is responsible is caught.”

“Oh my god. Carter.” I cried as I watched the screen pan to an aerial view of his home, police surrounding the large property. Yellow crime scene tape was all over the perimeter as people rushed in and out. Footage played of a stretcher being carried out his front door and I gasped. It was Carter’s body, bloodied and covered in a white sheet. “Oh my god.”

My phone buzzed again, and I noticed a new message from my stalker.

You’re welcome.

My face ran cold. I quickly typed a reply, speaking out loud, and I sent it. “Leave me alone.” He replied almost immediately.

Never. You’re mine.

“Fuck,” I whispered as I blocked him. I immediately went to Carter’s profile and searched his posts, praying it was all a mistake. But all I saw were comments of people mourning his death. Hundreds and hundreds of strangers were wishing his family well and leaving crying and broken heart emojis all over his posts. It made me sick. “Fuck!” I threw my phone down and cried.

Haze entered the room, wearing a cropped shirt and sweatpants. Our eyes met as he looked at me, concerned. “Indi?”

“He’s dead, Haze!” I sobbed. “He’s fucking dead!”

He sat next to me on the couch, taking my bowl of cereal as I immediately curled into him. I bawled like a baby, soaking his shirt with my tears. He rubbed my back and held me close, comforting me. The news continued to play as the reporters repeated the same information over and over. Haze’s muscles tightened as he held me close. “It’s okay,” he whispered as he kissed my head. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“How?” I pulled back. “Someone killed Carter! What—what if they try to kill me too?”

Haze tilted his head and digested my words. “Why would they kill you?”

Because my stalker killed him for me. And now he wanted me.

I wiped my tears. “Because—because I was his girlfriend. What if…” I couldn’t form the words. But I knew deep down, something was wrong and it scared the shit out of me.

“Indi, whoever killed Carter probably did it for something completely unrelated to you. He probably had some gambling debts or screwed over some drug dealer. They’re not going to come after you.”

“How do you know?” I asked.

Haze’s face darkened. “Because I just do. And even if they did, you know I would do anything to protect you.” I stopped crying and looked at my brother. Maybe he was right. Maybe this masked follower was just fucking with me and Carter’s death really was unrelated. But one fact alone didn’t sit well with me. My stalker was in Carter’s home…in his closet. Which means he’d been there before. And if he knew how to get into Carter’s house before, who was to say he couldn’t do it again.

“I need a drink.” I pulled away from Haze and searched the kitchen. I found an old bottle of vodka and began to drink straight from it. It burned my throat, but I didn’t care. I needed to drown my fucking feelings and forget everything. I needed an escape.

Haze stood and walked towards me. “Indi.” He tried to take the bottle away from me, but I dodged him. “Give it to me, Indi. You don’t need to do this.”

I tilted my head and took another swig. “Yes, I do.” He watched me intently. “My mind is so fucking tangled and messed up! There’s so much eating away at me, gnawing at my fucking soul. I fucking need this, Haze. I need to silence these—these sick and dark demons. I need to stop feeling everything all the time and I need to think that everything is going to be okay! Even if it is pretend!” Tears flowed down my face as I stared at him, choking back my cries. “I need to feel nothing.” He clenched his jaw and walked away from me. I took another sip and coughed on the bitter aftertaste.

Haze returned a minute later and held his hand out. In it was one of his joints. I looked up at him and he was smiling. “If you want to feel nothing, then this is what you need. Not a bottle of cheap ass vodka.” He took the glass bottle from my hand and raised the joint to my lips. I held it in my mouth as he lit his own and leaned forward. His green eyes bore into mine, staring so deep into my being as the tip of his joint burned and reflected in his irises. He pressed the end of his joint to mine, lighting it.

I took a large breath and realized it was the one I had smoked that night at the club. “Laced?” I asked with an exhaled cough. Haze grinned and nodded, smoking his own. “Good. But I’m still going to finish this.” I snatched the vodka bottle back.

Haze shrugged and moved past me to pull a second and third bottle out of vodka and whiskey. His joint burned between his lips as he grinned and walked towards the couch. “You coming?” I tried not to laugh, wiping my tears as I followed him with the first bottle. He sat on one end of the couch and took a large drink of the whiskey. I sat opposite him and downed some more vodka. We looked at one another, feeling the effects of his special weed settling in as we drank.

“You’re such a bad influence,” I teased him and laughed as I smoked some more.

Haze eyed me closely as his smile grew. “If only you knew.”

The day had melted away and blurred together. Haze and I got completely wasted and high as fuck, stumbling around as we danced and joked. It was nice to let loose and just be with my brother. I felt safe. And right now, that was exactly what I needed.

“Okay, my turn!” I stumbled to the armchair and stood in the seat of it still wearing my pajamas. I tossed my hair back and made a ridiculous pose.

Haze busted out laughing as he choked on his weed, smoke shooting from his mouth and nostrils. “What the fuck is that?” he asked, placing the bong down.

I nearly fell over and snorted, fixing my pose. “Oh come on!” I repositioned myself, trying not to fall over as I stood on one leg. I flapped my arms like a bird, laughing as I tried to remain still. “Take a wild guess.”

“Indi.” Haze shook his head. “What the fuck are you doing?”

I placed my hands on my hips with a smile. “You have to guess! I can’t tell you, that’d be cheating! Now, think pink!”

He laughed as he finished off the second vodka bottle. “Pink…fuck okay. Pig?”

“Pig?” I shouted. “I’m sorry, but since when do pigs fly!” I flapped my arms again. “Try again?” I wobbled.

Haze took another hit from the bong as someone knocked on the apartment door. His smile dropped. He looked from me to the door and stood up. “Fuck, I don’t know. Parrot?” He pointed to me.

“Close!” I snapped my fingers.

Haze shook his head and answered the door. The TV was blaring, but I could hear him speaking with someone. “Is it the neighbors coming to complain again? I told you to tell them to fuck off—” Mary-Jane suddenly entered the living room. “Oh, hey!” I waved at her.

She waved back, looking at me all weird. Her hair seemed extra vibrant and swirled like flames, but maybe that was the drugs and alcohol talking. I remained still in my pose. “What’re you doing?” she asked, looking around the living room at our mess.

Haze sat back on the couch as I remained standing on the armchair. “We are playing charades. It’s Haze’s turn to guess. Maybe you can help him!” I posed. “Here. What am I?”

Mary-Jane studied me closely. “A flamingo?”

“A flamingo! Yes! Uh! That’s what I’m talking about! See, Haze? It wasn’t that hard!” I jumped from the chair and stumbled into Mary-Jane as she caught me. “Loser!” I held my fingers up in the shape of an L on my forehead and stuck my tongue out at Haze. He rolled his eyes. “I win, bitch!” I flipped him off, laughing as I fell back into the armchair.

Mary-Jane looked at us both. “Is this what you guys have been doing all day? Getting wasted and high?”

“Yup!” I twirled my hair.

“Haze?” She looked at him. “Don’t you think this is a bad idea?”

“Why are you here, Mary-Jane?”

She made a face. “I came to check on Indi.”

Haze silently watched her. “She doesn’t need you. She’s fine. Aren’t you, Indi?” I nodded.

Mary-Jane scoffed at him and approached me. “Hey, Indi? There’s something I need to tell you. Something important.” I blinked.

“Enough, Mary-Jane. She doesn’t need to hear this again. She already knows.”

Mary-Jane shot him a look. “Back off, Haze!” I watched him tense. She turned back to face me and leaned down. “Indi, Carter is dead. Someone…” She choked on her words. “Someone killed him.”

I leaned forward, playing with her hair. “I know.” I smiled up at her. “Your hair has always been so pretty. I wish I could have red hair. But Haze doesn’t like redheads, do you, Haze?” She furrowed her brows and looked over at him. “He never has.”

Mary-Jane turned back to face me. “Indi, the police are asking everyone to come and talk to them. They’ve been trying to get a hold of you all day, but no one can get through.”

I leaned back. “Well duh. I turned my phone off.”

“Why?” she asked.

I looked at the TV, watching as the news played. “Because he won’t leave me alone, and I don’t want to talk to him.”

“Who?”

I looked at her as a single tear fell down my cheek. “The man in the mask.”

Haze slowly sat up. “I think you need to leave, Mary-Jane.”

Mary-Jane fell to my feet. “The man in the mask? Who is he?”

“Mary-Jane.”

“Indi, tell me. Tell me!” She shook my arm.

I closed my eyes as the image of his mask burned into my eyelids. “It was him. He killed Carter.”

Mary-Jane gasped as I opened my eyes.

“Let’s go.” Haze grabbed her arm and forced her to her feet. The two began to argue.

“Let go of me, Haze! The police need to hear what she said. If she knows who killed Carter then?—”

“She’s wrong,” he growled. “She’s too fucking messed up and doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

Mary-Jane quietly watched him. “How do you know she’s wrong?” She looked from him to me. “I knew it.” She backed away from him. “I fucking knew it.”

Haze remained still. “You need to leave.”

“Indi?” Mary-Jane called me. “Indi, come on. We need to go.”

I shook my head as all the negative thoughts and feelings began to pour from me and flood to the surface. “I can’t,” I cried.

“Indigo, please!” she shouted while she held her arm out to me. I took a deep breath and grabbed it. Mary-Jane helped me to my feet as we walked past Haze. “Everything is going to be okay. Just tell the police what you said and they can protect you.”

“Mary-Jane. Don’t do this.” Haze shadowed us. “Stop.”

She whipped around. “No! I have spent years wondering why I was never good enough for you! I always thought you were maybe just fucking around with other people or too high to commit! But I realize there’s nothing wrong with me, Haze. It’s you! You and your sick obsession with her .” She pointed at me.

“Indi.” He looked past her to me. “Indi, come on. Let’s get you back on the couch. You’re in no condition to leave.”

“Back off, Haze! You don’t speak for her!” Their fighting made me nervous, and my head began to ache as they shouted. “Indi, we’re leaving.”

“Mary-Jane!” Haze grabbed her arm and pulled her down. She screamed so loud I had to cover my ears as I watched him pull her through the living room by her hair. She cried out in agony as he then kicked her side. “You can’t have her!” He looked up at me and began to walk in my direction. “She’s mine.”

Fear flooded my veins.

“Stop! Indi! Run!” Mary-Jane groaned. “Run!”

My feet stumbled as I struggled to open the apartment door. The cold night air hit my face as I tried to run, but I was too wasted and too slow. I heard Haze scream my name as something hard hit the back of my head. I fell forward, smacking my face on the concrete as the world began to spin.

Fuck…

My consciousness began to slip away as I felt my body roll. I blinked through my blurred vision to see Haze standing there, dragging back into the apartment. “Haze,” I weakly whispered his name.

“I’m sorry! But everything is going to be okay, Indi. I promise.”

Mary-Jane’s cries filled my ears, and I fell down a dark, spiraling hole.

HAZE

Music played as I nodded to the beat. I broke apart the fresh cannabis flower along the baking sheet into small raisin-like sizes, crumbling them across the parchment lined baking sheet. Kush meowed, scratching my pant leg. “Go on, you beggar.” His ears fell back as he meowed again. “No, you’re right. We had a deal.” I pinched a small amount of the cannabis and sprinkled it along his back. He purred and made such adorable noises while rolling around and licking the remnants from his fur. “Pothead.” I laughed.

Faint groans from the other side of the kitchen island caught my attention. I placed the baking sheet in the oven and walked around, wiping my hands across my little apron. Mary-Jane was trying to escape her binds, her hands bound behind her back as her ankles remained tied together. Her makeup was smeared across her face from crying, her screams also muffled by duct tape. Her dark eyes glared up at me, burning bright red like her hair as she tried to yell through the tape. She was so feisty and angry.

“Shhhh.” I bent down and squeezed her face. “Wouldn’t want to wake Indi now, would we? She had a little fall and needs to rest.” We both looked back towards the living room. Indi was passed out on the couch still. She wasn’t bound or anything, but that would happen in its own time. Right now, I needed to concentrate and finish this batch of brownies.

Mary-Jane tried to yell again, looking straight at Indi as if she could hear her muffled noises through the TV and music. It was pathetically amusing. I let go of her face as her head smacked into the floor. She eyed me with such hatred as I returned to baking.

I raised the whisk in her direction. “Don’t give me that look. I gave you a chance to leave, but you just kept fucking pushing. You wanted to save Indi, as if I would ever hurt her!” I scoffed. “What really throws me is why? I mean, Mary-Jane, you don’t even like her!” Her nostrils flared. “You never have. And honestly, I don’t think she ever really liked you either. I know I never have.” Tears rolled down her face, streaming her makeup more.

I guess after all these years I should’ve felt the smallest bit of regret for dragging her into all this, but I didn’t. I was relieved.

“Save your tears, Mary-Jane. I don’t deserve them.”