Page 28 of Levee

It was long and deep but far too quick, leaving my body feeling tingly and unsatisfied.

“See you in the morning?” he asked, getting a nod out of me. “Cinnamon raisin.”

“Cinnamon raisin,” I agreed as he pulled open my door, then waited for me to slide inside.

I was floating on cloud nine the rest of the night. All through dinner with Lily and Curtis that featured a snuggle with the baby as I fed her.

It wasn’t until I was on my way back down to my floor, when the elevator stopped the floor above mine to let another tenant out, and I looked down to see a door ever so slightly ajar that I felt my stomach drop again.

Because that door?

It was to the apartment right above mine.

Before I even knew what I was doing, I was stepping out of the elevator.

And making my way to the door.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Jade

My heartbeat was punching against my ribcage as I crept down the hall.

I suddenly regretted the second dinner I’d eaten at my friends’ place as it moved back up my throat, my mind conjuring up endless images of horrible things I might see.

Like my neighbor dead on the floor of his living room, never having a chance to even try to run away.

I stopped just outside of the door, pausing to take a deep breath as I listened for a moment.

Hearing nothing, I used my elbow to push open the apartment door.

It was dark inside, save for the glow of his TV screensaver, casting the space in pink and purple glow.

Using the back of my hand, I flicked on the overhead light.

My gaze went first to the desk setup near the windows. Three separate monitors, two gaming systems, a desk covered in energy drinks, chip and candy wrappers, and a collection of what looked like fidget toys.

The chair was turned over on the floor and a pair of white gaming headphones were on the ground next to it.

None of those things were what had a gasp catching in my throat, though.

No.

That would be because of the big dried puddle of blood in the center of the floor.

There was a strange whining noise in the apartment and it took me an embarrassingly long moment to realize it was coming from me.

The dinner that had been making its way up my throat threatened to find its way out, and I had to focus on taking a few slow, deep breaths to fight it back down.

I sidestepped the puddle of blood, pressing my back against the cabinets straight out of the seventies, but these ones were a faded yellow color compared to my sage green ones.

I followed the counters to the edge of the kitchen, then snaked my way down the hall. I checked out the bathroom, finding nothing, then made my way toward the only bedroom.

It was similar to mine. The layout of the closet and the windows making it so the bed had to be on the same wall with the feet facing the door.

Unlike my room, though, the walls were the same bland white they’d been when I’d moved in. And his bed was covered in nothing but a flat sheet with one pillow and one throw blanket. No nightstands or decor and just a small dresser across from the bed with a large TV sitting on top of it.

The closet door was half-open, the floor covered in a pile of dirty clothes.

---