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DEWEY HADN'T RETURNED from the 5th floor. The four young adults knew what that meant, but it was really confirmed when the coroners came wheeling out a body bag. Carlyn's stomach had churned at the sight, the second one she'd seen in less than 24 hours.
Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks. She hadn't known the man extremely well. The most she'd interacted with him was when she was a kid and Judy would take her and Wes to work. After that, he'd spent most of his time after his divorce in his home or at a bar. But he'd been a good man. He'd survived these killings for a long time and he could've chosen to not help them, but he did.
And that had costed him his life.
The only funeral Carlyn had ever gone to was her grandmother on her father's side. She'd been 5 years old. She hadn't really known the woman — or understood why everyone was so sad — but the atmosphere had simply been enough to have her crying into her dad's shoulder.
Death was suffocating.
It lingered over everyone. Nobody knew when they were going to die. If could be in five seconds, six days, seven months, or 27 years and they'd never know. Time was always running out, no matter what. But now, Carlyn and her friends' timers had been changed, shortened.
"Hey," a hand was placed on her shoulder, making her jump slightly. She looked up, seeing Chad. Since she had no where to go, not wanting to be home alone and refusing to be stuck at the hospital for another second, she'd asked the boy to come pick her up.
Chad frowned at the look on his best friend's face and took her in his arms, rubbing her back soothingly. "I'm sorry," he whispered, squeezing her tight while she cried. "I got you."
Carlyn clung to him for a few seconds before he led her back to his car. She stared out the window as he drove. She wasn't even paying attention. Her mind was blank as she simply stared.
"Amber's having a party at her house," Chad spoke, glancing over at her. It took a second before she turned to look back at him. "It's for Wes. I totally get it if you don't want to go. We could force Mindy out and go home."
How exactly do you help a girl whose boyfriend just died? Chad had the essentials down for breakups — ice cream, romcoms, and tissues. But something told him that wasn't going to help in this situation.
Carlyn swallowed as she weighed her options. She didn't really want to go to a party but she also didn't want to deal with the silence she knew would come from staying in with Chad and Mindy. "No. We can go."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," she confirmed.
When they got to Amber's house, all eyes immediately fell on Carlyn. People were swarming her, telling her how sorry they were, but she knew that most of them truly didn't give a fuck. Half of them hadn't even liked Wes when he was alive.
"Okay, thank you, people, back up," Chad pushed through the crowd, leading her into the kitchen where Amber and Mindy were.
Amber quickly brought her into a hug before pulling away, letting her hand rest on Carlyn's arm. "How are you feeling?"
Carlyn sucked in a breath. "That's a loaded question."
"Amber, how do you think she's feeling?" Mindy remarked, tossing her arm over the other girl's shoulder and bringing her closer.
Carlyn bit the inside of her cheek, the loud chatter already overwhelming her. "Hey, Amber, do you think I could just chill in your room?"
The girl gave her a small smile and nodded. "Yeah, of course." She held her hand out, which Carlyn took.
Mindy shook her head, grabbing Carlyn's other hand and tugging her back before she could walk off with Amber. "The safest option is to be downstairs."
Carlyn tilted her head. "Mindy."
"You can't trust anyone," Mindy reminded her.
Carlyn stared at her, anger bubbling in her stomach. This fucking psycho was controlling her life from every aspect, deciding who she'd lose and who would be kept alive. "Fine." She nodded and moved behind the counter, grabbing a red solo cup and taking the bottle of alcohol from James Wheeler, pouring a bit into the cup.
Fuck it.
She threw her head back and allowed the liquid to go down her throat, face twisting in disgust as she pulled the cup away from her mouth. She shook her head at the taste, resting against the counter as she got used to it. It didn't take long for the alcohol to warm her body up and for her to pour some more.
Mindy and Chad exchanged looks as they silently debated on what to do. Carlyn didn't usually drink the hard stuff, usually opting for a wine cooler or a beer. But then, Carlyn had also just lost her boyfriend. If she took it too far, they'd intervene, but for now they'd just let her cope how she wanted to.
"Hey, we're low on beer," Mindy told Amber, who still looked slightly annoyed from a few minutes ago.
"Alright, there's more in the basement," Amber replied, already walking off. "I'll go get some."
Mindy furrowed her brows and went to follow the girl. Neither Chad or Carlyn paid any attention to them, the former having found shot glasses. Carlyn poured their shots and Chad turned to the crowd behind them.
"To Wes," he raised his glass.
The crowd behind him copied his action. "To Wes."
The words rung in her head. To Wes. It was funny how Amber was throwing a party in the boy's honor when he'd never been a huge fan of parties. On the nights that Carlyn was feeling social, he'd follow her around as she talked to people. When she wasn't, they'd be found in a corner, talking as they watched everyone around them.
She sighed before tilting her head back once more.
If Wes were there, he would've taken the drink from her immediately. He wouldn't have let her use it as a coping mechanism. She could practically hear is voice. "You could get addicted, y'know. This could seriously mess you up more."
He'd been a living, breathing person hours ago. She'd been touching him and kissing him — and now he was nothing more than a ghost, a memory.
Maybe it was the alcohol beginning to make her mind go all fuzzy, or maybe it was simply just her brain beginning to forget, but she tried to think of his touch and came back empty.
She felt her throat tighten as tears threatened to fall. She quickly wiped at her eyes, taking a deep breath while pouring herself another shot.
She could deal with her emotions tomorrow, but tonight she was going to forget her name.
Besides, Wes wasn't there, so it didn't really matter.
