Page 187 of On a Fault Line

Two.

Three.

I’m an…

What does this even mean?

One, two, three, I’m an….

Will I get another gift soon?

And who is delivering these to me?

Something seems off, and yet someone is taking their time delivering a cryptic message at his orders.

I walk the bracelet over to the kitchen counter and place it on its surface.

I’m over these haunting messages. Mark obviously has someone working for him on the outside who is able to deliver these strange packages.

He’s getting to me, and I’m allowing every second of his torment to touch my life.

Suddenly the apartment feels claustrophobic and empty at the same time.

I don’t want to be here alone. I’m fucking tired of being alone.

“Luke? Are you here?”

Maybe he came back home during my nap on the floor.

I meander into the living room, looking to see if there’s any sign my roommate’s here. Usually it’s a drink left on a side table or the television being left on that indicates he’s milling about the place.

But I see nothing.

Moving down the hall, I knock on his door, surprised it isn’t in its typical locked state. Despite being very open about what he does at his job, he’s a relatively private person. So when I find it left ajar, I’m shocked.

Pushing the door a little, I take a peek inside his room.

“Hey, Luke?”

No answer.

And then without thinking of the consequences, I walk in.

I blame it on the fish tank. It catches my attention.

Why didn’t I know he had a fish tank?

Pinned to the side of the tank are little cutout name tags of goldfish. Blooper, Finneous, and Scaly-Gaster…

The fish are huge for being goldfish, clearly having months to grow.

Grabbing the food, I see the feeding schedule listed out on paper from a spiral notebook, dated back to the middle of summer.

Seriously, why didn’t I even realize this?

Have I been so wrapped up in the world of Collins Stone that I don’t even know what’s happening in my own home?

The fish swim to the glass at what I assume is the sight of the food container coming into view, so I open up the top part of the tank and sprinkle in some of the shrimp flakes.

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