Page 40 of Baked

“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 withher.” 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 smearedacross 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.”

ELEVEN

INDI

My conscienceslowly crept back into my body, feeling my life returning to my nerves, my limbs tingling like they had been asleep for years. My head screamed and ached, pulsing in the most painful ways. I felt like I had been hit by a semi-truck and left on the side of the road to walk home half dead. Damn, it sucked.

“Fuck,” I moaned. Feeling returned to my body, and I tried to open my eyes only to realize something was covering them.

What the hell?

I tried to reach for my face but couldn’t. My hands were stuck. No. They were…tied? I was unable to move. Something was wrapped around my wrists, keeping them behind my back. It felt like…rope? I completely panicked, realizing my legs were also constrained. “What the fuck,” I breathed. My limbs tugged and wriggled against the binds, attempting to pull free, but it was pointless. They were too tight. I was stuck, tied to—what is this? A a fucking chair? “Haze?” I cried out in fear. “Haze!” My throat burned as I shouted his name. Muffled noises filled the room as I listened closely. “Mary-Jane?” She screamed louder, confirming my fears. “Mary-Jane! Where are you? W-what is happening? Where’s Haze?” Her sounds silenced as the sound ofheavy footsteps entered the room. I froze, listening as whoever they belonged to stepped closer and moved around me, circling me like its prey.

Who would do this?Then it clicked.Oh god. It’s him. It’s fucking him.My body trembled, and I tried to fight back tears.My stalker…he was here. Haze, where are you!

---