WHEN I LEAVE RYAN’S HOUSE, I realise I don’t have my car with me. I restrain the groan and begin the long walk home.
The walk is refreshing. The reckless behaviour of the night before has left an impression on my skull, and I need to breathe fresh air and walk off the dull thud. I’m just grateful Ryan and Sean turned out to be trustworthy, although Ryan can’t make coffee to save his life. The cup he made me has left a tar layer on my tongue, not helping the queasy stir in my stomach.
My mind wanders to Blake. Ha! So, the arrogant ass has a name and he’s Ryan’s brother which means he is the police officer. How can someone paid to protect and serve be such an asshole, not even helping to pick up someone he knocked over? And the blow off he gave me about me kissing him, and then staring at me with such intensity in his bathroom. The air could have ignited if our bodies struck each other.
Ryan quizzed me about how I knew him when he dragged me back to his room, and I was truthful. I don’t know him. I didn’t even know his name until Ryan enlightened me. Blake. It suits him; a strong, confident name to match the aura of superiority he gives off.
The toot from an approaching car startles me and I nearly slip into the ditch I’ve been avoiding the entire trek home. A window lowers and a bright red-haired head pops out.
“Hey,” the bright cheery voice from the girl who smiled whenever she saw me chirps. We have journalism class together and she seems to want to interact with me but I’ve yet to introduce myself.
I tilt my head to look in the car; her sister is driving. They have the same fire red hair and almost black eyes which give them an intense, almost supernatural look.
“Cherry and Red.” She grins, flicking her finger to her and her sister. My eyebrow raises. “Nicknames, clearly.” She giggles.
“Argh, there’s a car coming up behind me, Cherry,” Red screeches. Cherry rolls her eyes and sticks her arm out of the car, waving for the other car to pass, and receives a horn blast from the driver as he overtakes.
“Need a ride?”
I nod and they pull to a stop for me to leap in. I barely get the door closed before Red pulls out and guns the engine.
“Thanks.”
I receive two smiles in the review mirror. Cherry has a dimple, her features slightly younger than her sister’s. “So, we see you around campus and we share a class. We also saw you last night with Ryan and Sean.”
It isn’t a question, it’s an observation. They must have been at the same club last night, which isn’t a surprise since it’s popular with students.
“Yeah,” is all I offer. They share a look.
Red taps her fingers on the steering wheel. “So, you came from Ryan’s house?”
“Yeah, I stayed over.”
Both sets of onyx eyes grow large and Cherry turns in her seat to face me.
“Oh my God! What was he like? Red stocked her pantie drawer with her slut attire when she first laid eyes on Ryan in the hopes of giving him a kink fest and pubic floss.”
My mouth drops and a giggle erupts from me. “Pubic floss?”
Red glares at her sister.
“Yeah, you know, getting pubic hair stuck in his teeth from…” Cherry winks, pointing to her sister’s lap and gaining her a slapped hand.
“You may be a sascrotch, Cherry. I have mine waxed!”
“Sascrotch?” I hold my stomach from the laughter.
“She’s like a wild bush down there!” Red smirks. “So…” she continues, expectant for me to spill the sexploits of Ryan.
“I’m sorry to disappoint but he was the perfect gentlemen, and Sean was there too. We just crashed.”
Their faces drop, and Cherry spins in her seat to face forward. “Hmm Sean, would have been awesome spit roast by those two.”
Her sister’s eyes narrow before all three of us burst into laughter.
Pulling up at the dorm, I’m apprehensive to get out of the car. The fifteen minutes I’ve been in here, I haven’t even thought about my parents. Guilt swarms me. How can I laugh when they are cold on a slab right now?
“Melody?”
I shake my head to focus on them. “Sorry, what?”
Cherry’s smile is really pretty, lighting up her whole face. “Red and I are going shopping tomorrow. You want to come?”
I could use a few things and spending time out of my dorm would be nice. “Sure.” I return her smile.
“Great, we can go straight from class. Meet us in the quad.”
I reach for the door handle, offering thanks for the ride. My insides trip when I notice the suits standing near a black unmarked car. Their eyes find me and hold me. I make my way towards my dorm but stop when they approach me. “Miss Masters? Melody Masters?” The tall one with salt and pepper hair asks.
His friend removes his glasses; blue eyes shine at me with sympathy. I nod to confirm I’m me.
“I’m Detective Roberts, and this is Detective Donovan.” They both flash their badges. “We need to have a word, if that’s okay?”
Leading them to my dorm, I ignore the stares from my peers. “Come in,” I murmur, gesturing to my room. They both enter, closing the door behind them. My hands are shaking and I can’t stop them so I fold my arms across my chest, hugging myself.
“We have been made aware of your situation, Miss Masters.” My eyes look everywhere but at them. “We’re sorry for your loss.” Ha! No they’re not. They don’t know the value of who was taken from me; the words that spill from his mouth are scripted.
“Why are you here?” I ask.
The older guy clears his throat, looking at the younger one. Passing the buck. The younger one steps forward, his voice gentle like he’s speaking to a child. “Melody, we have reason to believe you may not be safe.”
My breath hitches. “He let me go.”
Donavan’s eyes study my face before he reaches forward, touching his hand to my elbow, guiding me backwards until my knees collide with my bed. “Take a seat.”
My body complies, lowering to sit.
He kneels so he’s at eye level with me. “Melody, with the way in which your parents were murdered, we can’t understand why the perp would leave you unharmed.”
I scoff. “Oh, he left his mark, Detective.”
He flinched from my brazen bravery. “I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. We believe he may not be done with you.”
Closing my eyes, I try to let what he’s saying soak in. “Have you got any leads on who did this?”
He stands. “The investigation is ongoing at this moment. I’m sorry we don’t have anything to bring you some peace, but criminals this reckless, they always mess up somewhere and we will find him when he does.” My heart hurts. I meet his eyes and see determination shining back at me. “We want you to come to the station and answer a few questions for us. We also want to keep a tail on you for a while.”
I shudder, my hands stroking down my arms, the cold chill blowing from the inside. “What does that mean?”
Salt and pepper guy steps forward. “Don’t worry, Miss Masters. We will just have a detective keeping an eye on your dorm to look for anyone acting suspicious.”
My eyes grow big.
“It’s just protocol, Melody. When we believe a victim to be in further danger, we want to be cautious and take precautions to be on the safe side,” Donavan cuts in, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a card. “You ever have questions or you remember anything, don’t hesitate to call me, okay? We can bring you to the station now if you have the time?”
Slipping the card from his fingers and getting to my feet, I shake my head no “I will come down tomorrow if that’s ok?”. His hand rests on my shoulder. “You’re not alone, Melody. We will do everything we can to bring this animal to justice.”
“Donovan!” the other guy barks, gesturing with his head in the direction of the exit. His hand leaves me, and the door closes behind them as they leave.
I sink to the floor and let the tears claim me. Questions rage in my head but they lead nowhere. God, who is this guy and why didn’t he just kill me?
The clock by my bed informs me I’m late for class. I can’t face it now, anyway. I don’t know why I’m still here, going through my routine like everything is normal, like my insides are not corroded with misery. I need to focus on the anger, the anger towards Hades, the bastard who stole my life. He has to be the devil himself. Who else could be this cruel?