Page 11 of The Inmate
The kitchen itself seems normal, but there’s something else disturbing about it.
There’s a bottle of wine on the counter. Red wine, filled about halfway, still uncorked. There’s also a wine glass on the counter, with a residue of red liquid at the bottom of the glass. And then there’s a second glass. Except this one is shattered on the floor.
I may not be Dawn’s best friend, but I know her well enough to know that she wouldn’t leave a bottle of wine uncorked on her kitchen counter. And she definitely wouldn’t leave broken glass on the floor.
I was right. Something terrible has happened here.
I walk slowly across the kitchen. As much as I want to find Dawn and help her, I’m scared there could be an intruder in the house. Well,anotherintruder. Whatever happened to Dawn, I don’t want it to happen to me as well. I’ve got to be careful.
So that’s why when I pass the block of knives on her kitchen counter, I pull one of them out. Better safe than sorry.
My fingers are bloodless, wrapped around the handle of the knife. I push open the door to the dark living room, and the first thing that hits me is a strange smell. It’s not something rotting or anything like that. It’s almost like… wet seaweed.
Before I can spend another second wondering about the strange smell, I catch sight of the giant tank filled with water. It’s a fish tank, illuminated by a glow from within, but I don’t see any fish inside. I lower my head to peer into the water.
It’s a turtle.
An ordinary turtle, about the size of my hand, swimming around in this giant tank. Well, it’s not so much swimming as much as sitting perched on a rock, its dark green shell glistening as it stares at me. I’ve never had any strong feelings towards turtles, one way or the other, but this turtle is unnerving me. I want to snap at it to stop staring. It’srude.
Turtles just don’t have any manners, apparently.
“Dawn?” I call out again.
No answer. Where is she, dammit?
Next to the turtle tank, there’s a large bookshelf. The room is dark, but I can still make out the contents. I always thought Dawn had a lot of turtles in her cubicle at work, but I was wrong. I didn’t know whata lot of turtlesmeant until I saw this bookshelf.
Every single shelf isburstingwith turtle figurines. Turtles, turtles, turtles. Glass, ceramic, marble, even stuffed turtles. Every single inch of the bookcase bears the likeness of a turtle, except for one bare space in the middle of the second-highest shelf.
Something about that bookcase makes my skin crawl. I take a step back, but I nearly trip over an unfortunately placed ottoman. I look down—the Ottoman has been overturned.
But I didn’t knock it over. It was toppled over like that already.
That’s when I notice the chair overturned, lying on the floor. I creep closer, squinting into the darkness. And then I see what’s on the carpet.
And I scream.
ChapterSix
EIGHT MONTHS EARLIER
To: Vixed Employees
From: Natalie Farrell
Subject: Welcome party!
I hope everyone will give a wonderful welcome to our newest employee, Dawn Schiff! She’s replacing Edgar Hines as our new accountant, so she has some big shoes to fill, but I can tell already that she will do an amazing job. I brought some refreshments to enjoy in the break room at 3 as a welcome to the newest member of the Vixed family.
Please join us!
Natalie
To: Mia Hodge
From: Dawn Schiff
Subject: Re: Greetings
