Page 119 of Ruining Vanessa

“You also said it’s not worth it to get anything that costs more than fifty cents a glass because none of the losers who come by here can afford more, and—”

Whatever else she’s going to say is interrupted by a scream.

Vanessa’s scream.

I look around, my heart suddenly pounding hard. That was Vanessa. I’m sure of it. Dulled, a bit farther away.

“Where’s Vanessa?” I ask sharply.

Jenna shakes her head. “I thought she went to talk to Damien.”

Sure, it’s plausible Damien is making her scream. I’ve made her scream. But it didn’t sound… It didn’t sound like that.

I go toward the stairwell, hoping to find Vanessa and Damien upstairs. Maybe it was just nothing, and the stupid white blobs and medical results are just messing with my head, and—

Vanessa’s lying at the bottom of the stairs, eyes closed.

For a few seconds, I can’t hear anything. My vision whites out around the edges.

I stare at her body, and I think…

If she’s dead, I’m burning the entire building down, with everyone in it.

“Vanessa?” Damien calls out from the top of the stairwell.

I gasp and snap to my senses.

“She’s down here, Damien! She… fell?” I go over to her and realize with relief that she’s breathing, and I don’t see blood anywhere.

Damien rushes down the stairs to join me, and now we’re both crowding around Vanessa.

Vanessa’s eyes flutter open, and she blinks up at me. She looks dazed, and though her lips part, she doesn’t speak.

“Hey, guys. I—” Slayer’s voice sounds from just behind us, but he cuts himself off with a, “Fuck! What happened? Vanessa, are you okay?” He shoves his way through until he’s kneeling beside her with us.

Damien gets his arm under Vanessa’s back. “Can you look at me? Are you hurt?”

Vanessa glances between the three of us, eyes wide, but her pupils are tracking properly so I don’t think she’s concussed. Of course, I’m not a doctor, just somebody who’s had a few too many injuries—and caused even more.

I notice a paper lying on the stairs near Vanessa, and I pick it up. It’s a receipt for booze, signed by Vanessa and dated today. I have no idea what it means, but I pocket it anyway.

“I’m… I’m fine,” Vanessa says unsteadily. “I… slipped?”

That doesn’t sound very convincing, but Slayer’s the one to say it. “Are you sure?” he asks carefully. “Vanessa, did you trip going up the stairs or down?”

Vanessa blinks at him, lifting a trembling hand to run through her hair. “I… I was…”

The fact that she can’t answer immediately makes me frown.

“Down,” she finally mumbles.

I look at where she is on the floor. I remember Jenna saying Vanessa had gone up to talk to Damien. The receipt in my pocket… She must have wanted to give that to Damien, too.

“Why were you upstairs?” I ask mildly.

“I was going upstairs to give Damien…” She looks around, frowning. “An invoice…”

“So you finished talking to him and you were coming back downstairs?” Slayer prompts, ever the detective.

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