Page 7 of Strangled
“You’re an ass.”
“Yes.” I shove my hands in my pockets, my shoulders stiff.
Cade walks back to the bathroom where Iris still is. When they reach the door frame, they shoot me one last worried look before it turns into a mild smirk. “Don’t forget the fucking sage,” they say before disappearing inside. I hear Cade and Iris talking before the door latches shut, muffling their voices to a dull rumble.
With a shake of my head, I walk into the room and close the door behind me now that I’m finally alone. Just being in this space sends a chill across my skin. My face already itches from the paint I started earlier as sweat trickles along my hairline.
I crouch down in front of the two decayed spots on the floor, staring intently at them for a moment. Even with the blatant evidence right in front of me, it’s hard to believe two people were actually killed here in this very spot. In a house I now own.
Maybe it was their son.
This feels… personal.
I reach out toward the stain at my feet when a long, faint scratching noise creeps through the room. My hand stills, hovering in the air as the echoes of silence pulse around me. I keep my head still as my eyes dart around the part of the room I can see.
The single window on the opposite side illuminates the space, but the sun is beginning to set since it’s late fall, and the room is already shrouded in dark shadows.
A black spider hangs in a thick web in the exposed rafters to my right, sending a deeper chill down my spine. I fucking hate spiders, and this house is full to the brim of them.
The scratching has ceased, filling the room with charged silence. In my peripheral, I notice my hand trembling slightly, my rapid breathing affecting my body. Despite my mental lack of fear, my body is purely reacting to stimuli.
Strange noises coupled with being surrounded by the obvious traces of death is more than enough to affect a fucking saint.
I stand on shaky legs, backing away from the rotten floor, my eyes stuck on the spider dangling from its web, swaying back and forth. Now that the noise has dissipated, my ears ring, reflecting the unnerving stillness.
Fuck, I’m not stoned enough for this shit.
I slam the decrepit door behind me after flipping the inside lock and hightail it down the stairs, beelining for my bong.
“Even he’s freaked out by it,” I hear Cade murmur to Iris as I hurry past. If I wasn’t in a rush to re-up on my buzz, I would’ve knocked them upside the head for even saying that.
Of course, I’m not freaked out. Not by the room or the noises. It’s an old fucking house. It’s probably another bat in the walls or some shit.
And the room isjusta room.
After my body is comfortably flushed and buzzing after a few hits of weed, I lean back on my oversized, slightly dusty couch and zone out for a while, the wall becoming a blurred blob of thick webs and dirt streaks in my line of vision.
THREE
“Seriously, dude? Wake the fuck up!” Cade’s voice rings through the sleep-clouded fog in my mind. I groan and roll over, face planting into the soft cushion.
“Go away,” I grumble.
“Not a chance. You wanted this, so get your stoned ass up and get ready. People are going to start showing up any second, and I’m determined to have a good fucking night.”
Their words have me perking up. Is my best friend actually going to party with me tonight? Turns out, I really do need the distraction.
I look at Cadence, seeing them dressed head to toe. My eyes trail up and down their frame, taking in the entirety of their costume—white spandex covering every exposed inch of skin their suit doesn’t cover aside from their face, which they painted white. The silver of their piercings glint in the dim light, a slight contrast to the white paint. They also traded their thick, black frames for contacts, making the depth of their brown eyes appear darker—more captivating.
“Damn,” I muse, slightly impressed. “For someone that doesn’t like Halloween, you sure went all out. Although Slenderman’s face has no discernable features, and yours is too hot. Eh, but now that I think about it, Slenderman does seem kinda hot… in an obvious creepy way.”
Cade snorts and rolls their eyes. “First off, don’teversay that to me again. Second, I can’t have fucking spandex over my face all night if I want to drink, so paint is as good as it’s gonna get.
“Iwouldsay thank Iris for the wonderful fucking idea, but I didn’t even know who Slenderman was before this, and now that I do…” They visibly shudder, and I bark out a laugh. Pushing myself to my feet, I pat their shoulder.
“You’re too short to be Slenderman, anyway,” I whisper, and narrowly miss getting smacked.
“Fuck off! Go get fucking dressed already!” Cade shouts up at me. I flip them off as I turn up the second set of stairs just as Iris makes her way down.
