Page 68 of He Who Haunts Me
“Mari, what do you mean it didn’t convey?”
“Bex had no idea. It’s funny. She thought he liked me, but really, I just knew when he was bothering her, so I stepped in. His crush doesn’t outweigh her comfortability, you know?” she asked, but I stood shocked and frozen in place.
He’d been sitting in front of us all along.
“Mari, where does Brent go in his free time?”
“I think he visits his grandma on the weekends. He usually spends Sunday out in Cape Haven, where we all grew up.” She waited in silence as I battled the growing emotions.
“Mari, I’m coming out to Sigma. Don’t leave. You need to show me exactly where they went. Cape Haven is two hours away and I’m already two hours behind them.” I walked out of my office and pointed to Stan and Andy. “I’m bringing everyone. Tell Callum to get that place in order so his father doesn’t have a heart attack.”
“You think it’s Brent?”
“If it’s not—” I paused. “—then I don’t know how I’m going to find them.
Chapter 17
November 1, 2020
Jai
My head swam in slow motion as a thundering echoed. I’d never felt anything like this before. I’d been hit hard, I’d been knocked out before, but coming back had never felt like treading so much water.What the fuck happened?
“Jai…”
The voice was distant and disembodied. I concentrated hard as images flashed through my mind. Another Sigma party, Halloween night, and a girl with beer running down her face.Bexley.My body tensed as I strained against the heaviness.
Wake up, you dumbfuck!
I forced my eyes open, and they focused on a dirty ceiling. The entire room smelled dusty and stale. My head was heavy while I was bent over the top of a chair. I pulled myself straight, straining against the pain of stiff and sore muscles. My arms were bound behind my back.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I groaned as I tried to pull them apart. I looked around the room. It was a residential property, but it was rundown and abandoned. There was a lifeless form on the floor off to my right.
“Bexley!” I yelled into the empty space. The echo bounced through the room, but it didn’t stir her. Gravel skittered across the floor from one of the darkened corners. “You’re a fucking coward!”
The figure appeared, but again, he was in that stupid mask. He approached me slowly and stopped within arm’s reach. He studied me.
“If you’re gonna kill us,kill her,be a fucking man and show your face. All you’ve accomplished is being a little shit and punk who can’t face their wrongs.” I started laughing, spiraling into rage that once landed me with a simple assault charge and packaged for juvenile detention. Only, I wasn’t a kid and was far more pissed at this cunt than my father.
He stepped forward and caught me with a right hook. It was ineffectual and incredibly weak. Maniacal laughter spilled again. His hand fisted the mask and ripped it off in a dramatic fashion.
“No. Fucking. Way.” I was astonished to see him standing there. “Is this a fucking prank? You’re this rabid serial killer?” I couldn’t help but lose it to a wheezy and breathless cackle. “No offense, but I didn’t peg you as the psychotic-break type, Brent.” The cocky smirk set him off.
“Shut your fucking mouth, Jai!” His blond hair was wild and sweaty as it stuck out in all directions. He reached into his waistband and pulled out a gun.
“I’m saying it here and now, if I wasn’tbound to this fucking chair,” I emphasized, “and you were playing fair, I’d have your ass more broken than you could imagine. Your actions would look like a fucking children’s tale by the time I finished with you!” I yelled as I pulled at my ties again.
“You, you,you!” He started waving the gun in my direction and my chest tightened. There was a crack in his appearance, and he couldn’t keep it hidden anymore. “It’s always about you, and you’re always in the way. All she does is talk about you, and then it’s like she talks you into existence because there you are at every fucking corner.”
“Of course, it’s about me!I’m her boyfriend, you fuckwit.” I spit on his stupid, dirty boots.
“But you shouldn’t be.” The fire in his voice died and was replaced by shards of ice. “I like her. I want her,” he said, turning to where she was still unmoving on the floor.
“What is this, kindergarten? You want your toy and I have to give it up?” His head snapped back to me, and he put his attention where I wanted it. “Newsflash, I don’tlikeBexley, Brent. I love her, and I told her I did. I didn’t run to her best friend to be a matchmaker.”
“I’m the better choice, and she’ll see that when she wakes up!” Spittle sprayed from his mouth and sweat started to drip down his face. “Why won’t she wake up?” His voice actually wavered with worry for a moment.