Mindfuck | Amber Freeman

E I G H T

8 | Party

Music was buzzing around the room, and with the amount of people, it grew hot. Maybe I should have opted for a tee-shirt, but I didn't have the energy to walk up the steps and to change, so I'd just deal with my jeans and long sleeve.

I stood beside Chad, who passed me a shot. He raised his own glass in the air. "Hey! To Wes!"

"To Wes!" Everyone shouted, and then I threw my head back, grimacing at the burn of the liquor running down my throat. I'd only had two, and that was my limit.

I wasn't allowing myself to get drunk, because that wouldn't help for what's to come. I needed a clear mind, and I'd need to be able to think quickly. I knew how these movies worked.

"Beautiful son of a bitch," Chad mumbled as he took his own shot.

"Shots, really?" Amber scolded, ripping the shot glass from Chads hand. "This is supposed to be a memorial."

"Well, this is how I mourn." He pointed to the glass, and I agreed with him. "And distract myself from the looming specter of death."

"Let's just not talk about it, yeah?" I nodded.

"Hey," Mindy walked over. "We're low on beer."

"Alright. There's more in the basement."

I grabbed Ambers wrist as she went to walk off. "What are you doing? You can't go alone."

Amber smiled, and grabbed my wrist. "I'll be fine, don't worry. I'll be back." She went to walk away again, but I gripped her again.

"Okay, fine, but you can't say that. Those can't be the last words you say before you walk away, so say something else before you go."

Amber cracked a smile. "Okay, let me think." She thought about what she should say for a good thirty seconds. "Want a beer?"

I smiled and let go of her, politely declining her office. She laughed as she walked away, headed towards the basement.

As Liv stormed away from Chad, I plopped down on the couch next to him, trying not to smile at the whole scenario that just played out in front of me.

I kicked my feet up onto the coffee table, watching the movie that was playing on the tv. Of course it just happened to be stab. Mindy sat on the right side of me, eating a bag of chips.

I'd steal one every so often, to which she ignored but when Chad tried to take one, she'd slapped his hand, so he kept making me grab some for him.

Chad stood up, grabbing my attention. He grabbed his jacket and slipped it on. "Oh, don't do it. Don't go outside after her."

"Chad, wait," I got up, ready to go after him.

"No, Scarlett, sit," he pointed to the couch, commanding me as if I was a dog.

"Chad, you can't go outside by yourself."

"Yeah, dude, at least take some sort of weapon." Mindy glanced up, sighing at her brother.

Chad grabbed a weighty candlestick and raised it up to show her and then left the room. Slowly, I sat back down, watching Chad until I could no longer see his retreating figure. "Mindy—"

"Calm down, girlfriend, he'll be fine." Mindy looked over at me, offering me a drink of her beer, but I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest, watching the movie.

"All right, thanks for coming but the parties over," I heard Amber yell, which I thought was strange but not strange enough to see what was happening.

But then I heard another voice, one I wasn't expecting. "Hey, hey, hey, hello. Can we cut the music, please?" My heat shot away from the tv, looking behind me and into the kitchen.

"Was that Richie?" I got up to go see what the commotion was. Standing at the door, I saw Richie, Sam, and Tara. "Tara? What's going on?"

"I just needed my extra inhaler," she explained.

"Gen Z, hi, how are you? Sam, Tara, and Scarlett were all attacked by the killer and now they're here. Which makes this place a huge murder target, so, uh, if I were you, I would probably leave."

It didn't work, though, because everyone started to groan and complain, and one even threw their plastic cup at Richie.

"Okay, I tried being nice. Get the fuck out. Sincerely, get the fuck out." He waved them out, and I watched as they all begrudgingly left. "Thank you. Thank you all. I'm saving your life, I promise."

Bored, I walked back into the living room. "What was going on?"

"Tara showed up, needing her inhaler." I told her as I sat down.

A knock sounded behind us. I looked over my shoulder, seeing Richie lean into the room. Mindy rolled her eyes as he started to talk. "Hi. Uh, do you know if there's any beer left? There's none in the kitchen."

"Yes, Richie, there's beer in the basement." She lifted up the remote and gestured to the door behind him. "Right behind you. Basement."

He looked nervously at the basement. "Either of you wanna, uh, come with me?"

Mindy laughed. "No. But you were right to ask."

He nodded. "Yeah, uhm, okay. I'll be right back," but he turned around, stopping himself when he realized his mistake. They both laughed and pointed at each other.

As he entered the basement, Mindy sat back. "Well, he's dead."

"Yeah, if he's not the killer." I commented.

"You're still on that?" Mindy turned her head to face me.

"Never trust the love interest." I shrugged, taking a chip from the bag and eating it.

"True, true."

I gasped when someone rather aggressively sat down next to me. "The goddamn fucking Uber canceled on me!" Complained Liv, who held sighed. "Great. Now I can't have sex, and I can't get a ride home. Could this night get any shittier?"

I sat up immediately. "Liv, where Chad?" Mindy must have thought what I did, because she sat up, too.

"What?" She sighed, turning around to face me. "I don't know, Scarlett. Probably off accusing everyone of being the killer!"

"He actually went looking for you."

"I didn't see him, 'K? Why are you looking at me like that?" She looked towards Mindy.

"Just revising my suspect list." Mindy admitted, looking her up and down. She leaned back against the couch as Liv stood up, getting ready to walk away, but stopped.

"Are you two afraid of me?" She tilted her head and leaned down, and I snorted, my hand coming up to my mouth to cover my laugh. "You think I did something to Chad? Huh? You think I'm gonna. . .cut you up?"

"A little bit, now, yeah. . ." Mindy moved away from her.

"I thought you said I was too boring to be the killer. Maybe that's the twist. What do you think, huh? You're the expert. You know what eventually happens to the expert?" She raised up her thumb and moved it across her throat as if she were slitting it.

She walked around the couch and then leaned between us. "Enjoy your movie." And then she snatched the chips, which really sucked cause I liked them.

"Bitch." I huff.