Satin

Seven

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It had been two days and Aspen had yet to hear from Zeke. She had been spotted sneaking back into the house by Alfred, who of course told Penny. 

'Her name's on my paycheck' was his excuse. Aspen understood, but it didn't change the fact that Alfred was a snitch. 

Now, she was sat at the breakfast bar with a toasted waffle in front of her. Aspen didn't usually eat breakfast, but when she walked into the kitchen and saw the pack of waffles on the side, knowing that Penny was a self-glorified health nut, she was too touched by her thoughtfulness to leave it unrecognised.

Penny came into the kitchen just as Aspen finished eating. 

'Don't think you're getting of school today, Missy.' She began, pulling a mug from the cupboard, 'Alfred will drop you off and take you to your police appointment this afternoon.' 

Aspen had completely forgotten about her meeting with detective Gerbert. When she had initially called the hotline , she figured she would go to the police station, tell them what she knew, and leave. She now knew things would not be that easy. 

She didn't know whether Zeke was playing some sort of joke on her or if he was completely serious, but with all the craziness going on, it was entirely probable that Jasper was not simply 'dead'. 

God, that felt ridiculous to think. 

If she told the police what she knew, they'd surely take her in for a psychological assessment. Or skip that step and just lock her up in a crazy house. 

'Do I have to go down to the station after school? I don't know any more than I've already told them and my arm is hurting.' She lied. 

'If your arm is hurting I will book you a doctor's appointment.' She turned on the coffee maker and sat on top of the countertop, 'Now hurry up, Alfred is ready to go.' 

She picked up her bookbag and gave Penny a quick hug before leaving the townhouse. Alfred was stood by the backseat door with his yellow framed sunglasses sat on top of his head. He wore a black two-piece suit and had a rolex on his left wrist. 

'You realise sunglasses are for when it's sunny, right?' Teased Aspen, climbing into the backseat.

'You realise all I have to do is tell Penelope you tried to run away and you're grounded for life, right?' Alfred shut the door and quickly walked round to the driver's side. 'That's right. I know how to play.' 

Aspen laughed quietly and pulled her phone from her bag. When Zeke had said 'later', Aspen had assumed he meant 'later that day'. She had been checking her phone all night and all morning and still he hadn't contacted her. The more she thought about it, the easier Aspen found it to convince herself Zeke was winding her up. She figured that if something wanted to kill her, they would have done it by now. 

Pretty morbid, but it made sense. She thought. 

The weather today was much more forgiving than yesterday. While it was still cloudy, there was hardly any wind and no sign of rain. Aspen wore a pair of dark jeans and a black turtleneck top with white converse. While it was nothing special, Aspen looked much more put together than the day before which she hoped would make her feel more put together also. 

The handprint on Aspen's arm had yet to diminish even slightly in size or colour. The intricate vein-like designs within the burn protruded the skin, creating ridges across her forearm. While there was a certain beauty to it, Aspen felt sick every time she saw it; more so now that Zeke had told her what he had. 

Aspen stayed silent, scrolling through social media on her phone while Alfred battled New York rush hour. Every so often he would honk his horn and shout profanities out of his window. After half an hour, they reached Aspen's school. Alfred parked next to the other chauffeur cars and  opened Aspen's door for her.