Page 72 of Death Match

“Um, would you mind…” She fiddled with the tape wrapped around her knuckles, as if she hated to even ask the question. “I need to borrow your phone.”

“How is it you still don’t have a phone, Jade?” Ricky headed over to a nearby side table, grabbed one of the water bottles there, and tossed her his phone. Jade caught it with ease, but she still shot him a look that seemed to say,Why in the hell would you risk throwing your phone at me?He drained half the bottle in one swig, chuckled, and went over to spar with the punching bag, giving Jade some privacy.

Jade flipped open the phone and began to punch in a number she knew by heart.

“Hi, Mrs. Anderson?” Jade began to pace the small area of the room, her free hand tugging the hem of her tank. Ricky was still punching the bag, not even looking at her.

There was a pause. Jade stopped pacing.

“I’m good, thank you.” A pause. “I just wanted to know if I could talk to Tina. I just want to make sure—” Another pause. The speaker cut Jade off. Her brows pinched in the middle. “Wait—she left early? Did she say why?”

Dread curled at the base of my spine. I wasn’t sure what Tina leaving her friend’s early meant exactly, but from the sudden panic on living-Jade’s face, it wasn’t a good thing. At all.

“No, I-I’ll check. I just, I mean, I specifically told her to stay with you until I picked her up. I just don’t understand why she wouldn’t just stay there.” There was another brief pause. I wasn’t sure if the woman was trying to reassure her or if she was offering some kind of explanation. Whatever it was, it wasn’t easing Jade’s worry any. “Okay, thanks.”

She snapped the phone shut and put it on the table a little too aggressively.

“What’s the word?” Ricky asked, catching the punching bag in his palms.

“I-I gotta go.” She took a step toward the door and then another. “I’ll see you. Thanks for letting me crash here for a bit.”

“Wait, Jade. What happened?”

But Jade was already out of the room.

Ricky didn’t hesitate. He rushed after her, and I went after him.

We ran out of the small house and headed down a dark street. The street lights overhead flickered, and we passed cars on the street that were either missing tires or that had trash bags taped over their broken windows.

Yep. They definitely didn’t live in a quaint middle-class suburb, that was for sure.

It took another couple of turns before we came to the familiar street with Gerald and his thugs and the row house across the street, where I had first seen my living-self come out of. Gerald’s stoop was empty when we passed, but Jade and Ricky paid it no mind. They waited for a unlit police car to past by before crossing the road and hurrying to the house at the end. Like the other buildings in this part of town, this one had seen better days, too.

“Wait here,” Jade called to Ricky as she climbed the steps.

“But, Jade, I—”

She stopped at the front door and glared at him. “I said wait here, Ricky.”

He clenched his jaw. “Fine,” he replied shortly. “I’ll stay here.”

Jade turned and headed inside. Noticing the gray smoke rushing into frame, I rushed to catch up with her, leaving Ricky alone outside.

There was an eeriness to the house when we stepped in. Like other row house-styles, this multi-level building was made up of many smaller apartments. Jade walked up the steps to the second floor. I followed, instantly thinking of my small place in the afterlife. Was there a connection there? I wondered. But at first glance, this building was a lot more run down and grimy than mine.

After pushing open the first apartment’s door, labeled with faded stickers as 2A, she hurried inside with me close on her heels. The carpet was a strange purple-gray color. Whether that was from wear or dirt, I didn’t know, and the wallpaper may have been a floral pattern at one time, but it looked like most of it was peeling or stained yellow from long term cigarette smoke.

And it smelled like it, too. The stench of it lingered in the air, strong enough to make me gag.

Jade paused, waiting. She tilted her head to the left, toward the small galley kitchen, as if she was searching for someone. Tina, maybe? More than likely.

The house was quiet. Tense.

A quick whimper disturbed the silence. Then, a male’s quick, “Shut up!”

Jade reacted before it had even registered to me what had happened. She dashed into the adjoining bedroom, and I ran after her.

Immediately, my eyes were drawn to the farthest corner.

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