Mind Or Matter

Chapter Twenty Nine

I ran out the door before I could even clean up my face. In the hallway, my feet pounding on the red carpet.

I walked into the elevator. While I waited to reach the first floor, I used the opportunity to wipe the blood off my face, using the camera of my small phone.

After doing a shitty job, I leaped out of the elevator, rushing out of the building and down the street. I received strange looks from locals on the street, and even a few appalled shouts, before remembering that I had Candi's number.

Pulling my phone out of the front pocket of my blue jeans, I dialed Candi.

One ring.

Two rings.

Right before the third ring, there was a muffling sound and then Candi's voice.

"Hey, William, what's up?"

I frowned a little. "Where are you?"

A pause. "Um, I'm shopping for sweaters at Article. There's this amazing coral colored one that's so fuzzy! Perfect for cold days!"

An exasperated chuckle escaped before I said, "Candi, you were just at the apartment!"

Regular store sounds in the background – women talking, footsteps, the sound of hangers being slid across a rack. "No, I've been gone for half an hour or so. Remember? I left right after we got back to the apartment." A moment passed and then Candi sighed. "Oh, right, you fell asleep..." It felt as if Candi was going to talk more, but she just left her sentence hanging like a fish on a barb.

I smiled a little, then started to walk back into the apartment. "Sorry, I thought I saw you in the spare room. Goodbye."

"Bye."

I was the first to hang up, walking fast into the lobby. Up the shaky elevator. Down the dark hallway.

Fuck, Will, as soon as you get back to Florida, you are going to get some more Seroquel, I thought as I opened the door to Jake's apartment.

The first room you walked into when you came to my brother's apartment was the kitchen, which was even smaller than the one back at my apartment in Miami. The door to Jake's bedroom was to the upper right and the spare room was straight ahead of the kitchen, right by the pantry.

The door to the very room was almost shut, though I was sure it was wide open when I left.

Walking slowly across the kitchen to the spare room seemed to take hours. A clock above the oven read 1:31. Right above the digits was a girl in a red bikini winking.

Typical Jake, I thought to myself, not even wondering where Jake was. Maybe he's in the bathroom...

I was now inches away from the dull grey doorknob, my hand lifted in front of me. I could feel a presence, the kind you get when you know someone's in the same room as you. When you're alone, it's different, like your heart is locked shut. But when someone's standing next to you, the inside of your chest feels like it's floating forward, like you're exposed.

I had that feeling. But instead of my heart floating forward, it felt like it was drowning in fear.

My fingers locked around the round knob and twisted, the cold metal slippery from my sweat.

As I pushed lightly, the door creaked open loudly, slowly revealing Candi, who was sitting on the floor, her pink hair covering most of her face as she kept her head down.

"Hello, William," Candi's voice rang, her sweet, cheerful voice. But something felt weird, something I couldn't quite put my finger on about the way she said my name.