Page 4 of Strangled
Was it ever really there?
…You can breathe.
This time, I can. My chest moves, and delicious, stale air fills my lungs just as my eyelids fly open.
* * *
The front door is wrenched open, the sound of it smacking against the wall reverberating throughout the empty house. I squeeze my eyes shut, hoping Cadence will go away if I pretend to stay asleep.
That fucking nightmare has me rethinking my excitement for a party, to be surrounded by people when I feel so off-balance.
“Nice try, dick head. You’re the one that wanted to throw this stupid party onthisfucking day, so get your ass up and help me make this place look… Well, shit, I guessmorecreepy than it already does, which actually won’t take much.”
“Maybe just more party-ish,” Cade adds as an afterthought. “Because, right now, it just looks… not good.”
I scoff but drag myself off the worn couch. I guess this is what I get, as Cade would tell me if I actually told them about my nightmare—which I will not do.
My arms raise above my head as I stretch from side to side, working the kinks out from lying on a shitty couch for hours. When my eyes open, I find Cadence staring at my exposed midsection.
“Don’t even think about it,” I grumble, running my hand back and forth over my buzzed head with a smirk. Cade and I have fucked once—years ago. We were each other’s firsts for everything, but that time has passed—something we both agreed on.
“Fuck, I’m not, I’m not. You’re just hot. And I’mallowedto look because you’re my best friend. Kay, thanks.” They purse their lips, their lip ring accentuating their cupid’s bow. They turn around and start doing something with adhesive strips and LED lights, and I can’t help but smirk. I fucking love Cade, and I’m glad our relationship is so solid. Because without them, I never would have made it.
Their bleached-blonde hair is shaved on the sides and longer on top, styled to perfection, and their plaid pants and cutoff band tee just scream Cadence.
“What time is it anyway?” I ask through a yawn.
“Five.”
“Shit. Later than I thought.” I light a Jay I rolled this morning and take a couple of hits before holding it out in front of me.
Cade takes it with a grimace. “No shit, dumbass. That’s why I’m here.” They take a small hit, their nose scrunching slightly before they pass it back. “Now hurry the hell up and help me so we can get ready foryourparty in this creepy ass house. Which I still think you have time to change the location—"
“You’ve already said that. Like seventeen fucking times since I first came up with the idea. Your reluctance is noted.” I stub the joint out and pick up the booze to start gathering it all onto one table pushed in the corner.
“And yet, you won’t heed it.”
“Nah because this place isn’t haunted.” As I say that, my gaze flickers across the living room. The walls are covered in dirt and grime and sticky cobwebs from sitting abandoned for years. The wooden floors are warped and creak heavily with every step. Half the walls are painted in white, which is cracked and peeling, and the other half is just exposed wood. Creepy, sure. I can see where Cade comes from in that aspect, butactuallyhaunted?
“No offense, Lyke, but your opinion is kind of invalid when you don’t believe in anything.”
My eyes drop to the white rectangular table in front of me, and I sigh. They’re right; I don’t believe in shit—and for good reason. Everything has an explanation—a purpose. Or maybe people just die randomly for no good reason at all other than pure coincidence. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But even so, coincidenceisan explanation.
“I believe you live, and then you die. Shit like haunted houses and ghosts? Nah. That kind of shit doesn’t make sense.”
What doesn’t make sense is the appeal I feel to this place.
But maybe that says more about me than anything since two people were fucking killed here.
I swear Cade’s sigh shakes the walls of the dilapidated house. “You’re exhausting. Of course, they don’t make sense. That’s the point. An interpretation of the unexplained.”
I blink a couple of times, staring into Cade’s dark eyes. I can see their desperation for me to finally lean into their side of things and believe it all but…
“Yeah, no.”
“Ugh!” They throw their hands into the air. “Whatever, dude. If you stay here, you’ll see.”
“I guess I will,” I deadpan as I grab the mixers and solo cups.
