Chapter 6 Do I Have Your Attention Now?
do i have your attention now?
Saige
Make his breakfast. Do his homework and his fucking laundry.
I fucked up. I know I fucked up, but he'll get tired of it, like I said. He'll get sick of having me around—that girl he's seeing certainly didn't like it.
Who am I kidding? Elias isn't actually seeing anyone. He doesn't have feelings like a normal person.
I walk from the psych building through the quad, and then to the parking garage. Psych was my last class of the day, and I wasn't lying about needing to pick up some textbooks from the bookstore on the far end of campus.
I really should eat, too. But every time I think of food, I think of Miles lying on his back in the grass.
Or sitting on Elias's bedroom floor with my tits out and Dax's dick in my mouth while he watches me. Seal it with a kiss.
And then if that isn't bad enough, I think of his body washing up on shore, and panic sets in, like it is right now. There is no fucking way I'm getting out of this alive. I can't fucking breathe.
I spot my car at the far end of the parking garage, and although it's the middle of the day, it's still dark and empty enough in here that the fear and panic cause me to break out into a run.
By the time I reach the vehicle, I get the idea that maybe I'll just drive for a while.
I'll leave campus and clear my head. I could walk my old neighborhood, stop and get some fries and a grilled cheese from my favorite café in Mount Pleasant.
I pull the door open, tossing my bag into the passenger seat. I notice the smell first—rotting, spoiled, almost like I'd left food in the car, but worse. After inspecting the front seat and center console, I look in the back and scream.
Blood and chunks of flesh paint the back seat of the vehicle.
I grab my bag and quickly jump out of the car, slamming the door behind me, breath heaving, backpedaling until I hit the cement wall and drop to the floor.
I tear at my hair and scream again, gagging, the scent still permeating my nostrils, and if my stomach weren't so painfully empty, I'd vomit.
Instead, I sit there, violently retching, and once it finally stops, I sit on the concrete, pulling my knees into my chest. I realize I can't stay here—I can't let someone find me here like this, I can't let them see the car, but I can't move.
It's not real.
That's what finally gets me to pull myself up off the ground—it can't be real.
I'm having a break from reality, and there's nothing there.
Forcing myself to stand, slowly and on unsteady legs, I approach the back of the car.
I squeeze my eyes shut, taking a deep breath before peering into that back window and…
It's all still there. Fuck.
I duck down, sitting beside the wheel well, and try to figure out what the fuck I'm going to do now. Hiding from it certainly isn't going to solve the problem. And then there's something else I hadn't even considered.
Someone did this. Why would someone do this?
Wasn't my car locked? I remember pushing the unlock button as I approached the vehicle, but that doesn't mean it wasn't unlocked already.
I need help. As much as I don't want to, I take out my phone and text the only person who might possibly give it to me.
I hear footsteps approaching before his voice.
"Saige? Are you—" He pauses after rounding the back of the vehicle and spotting me on the ground, hugging my knees to my chest. He's wearing a black t-shirt that fits snug across his muscular chest, his tattooed arms bare.
"Okay…" Dax extends his hand, and I take it, allowing him to pull me to my feet. "What happened?"
I bite my lip, glancing around the parking garage, ensuring it's still empty, and then back at Dax. "Look in the back."
He narrows his eyes before leaning over me, peering into the back of the vehicle.
"Um…" He presses his lips together, brow furrowed, and paces behind the car for a few seconds.
"Okay. Give me your keys." I pull the keys from my front pocket, and he takes them, walking around to the driver's side of the vehicle. "Get in the car, Saige."
I think I must have heard him wrong, but then he gets in and starts the engine, rolling down the windows. Slowly, I walk around the back and get into the passenger seat.
"Do you see it too?"
"Yes, I see it," he says calmly.
"Well, why would someone do this?! What does it mean? Is it human?!" I shout, gesturing wildly.
"Ripley…"
"Someone saw us! Someone knows. They're going to tell. Or they're going to kill me. I—"
"Saige!"
I know he's trying to shut me up, but I can't stop. "—should have called the police and told the truth. It's going to be worse now. And he has a family. His parents are probably looking for him, and it's my fault. Oh, my god, what if he had kids? I didn't even—"
"Saige!" Dax reaches out and grabs me by my crotch, squeezing hard, and I freeze. "Do I have your attention now?"
I nod. "Yes."
"Good. Take a breath…"
I do what he asks, breathing in and then out again slowly.
"You said you wanted my help, right?"
I nod.
"I left class to help you. I need you to calm down, buckle your seatbelt, and let me help you."
As I reach for my seatbelt, he puts the car in reverse.
"Let's not jump to conclusions," he says as we leave the garage. "It could be a random prank. Did you leave your car unlocked?"
"Yeah, some prank," I scoff. "And I'm not sure."
"It's not human."
"How do you know?"
"I can see the fur."
My eyes widen, and he must know where my mind goes because he says, "The dog is fine. Nolan is home; you can call and ask him if it'll make you feel better."
I shake my head. "I'm not calling him."
He laughs a little. "You scared of Nolan?"
"No, I don't trust him. I don't like him; I don't like any of you."
"Yeah, okay, Ripley."
I rest my head against the open window frame, closing my eyes for the rest of the drive. It's unseasonably hot for late September—too hot to have the windows down while we're sitting in traffic; I can feel the sun burning my face, but the smell is worse.
About half an hour later, we pull into an auto shop in West Vancouver.
"Hey, baby." Dax taps my shoulder, thinking I had fallen asleep. "Let's go."
Sighing, I get out and follow him inside.
He walks up to the counter with my keys, addressing the man behind it by name while I linger near the back of the lobby with my arms crossed in front of my body, attempting to make myself invisible.
It doesn't work because after a few minutes of shooting the shit and laughing with car guy, Dax calls me over.
"Hey, Saige, come here a second, baby."
Baby? Did he just call me baby in public and summon me? I glare at him before quickly fixing my face and joining him.
"Saige, this is Michael. He's going to take care of your car for us, okay? You just need to sign a few papers."
Michael hands me the clipboard, and I sign the paperwork, handing it back to him just before Dax gives him his credit card.
"Jealous exes are the worst," Michael tells me.
I give Dax the side-eye, and he throws his arm around my shoulders.
"The two of you look good together, though.
" Michael's eyes roam over my body, lingering on my chest and then again on my thighs.
"I'm sure she's worth it. I'll have this done in about an hour or so. "
"Thanks, man."
He takes the keys and leaves Dax and me alone in the small office.
"You still haven't eaten, have you?" Dax asks.
"No…I was going to, but then this happened."
"Well, what do you want? Let's go get some lunch."
"I don't know; nothing really."
"Saige, be serious. Besides, I do kind of have something to hold over your head, and you have to do whatever I want, so…what do you want to eat?"
I sigh. "There is one place I kind of want to go, but it's too far to walk."
Dax shrugs. "So? I'll get an Uber."
Twenty minutes later, we walk into that little Mount Pleasant café, and the host leads us to the back corner booth. I order the grilled cheese with extra fries and a soda while Dax orders a burger.
"Is this where you grew up?"
I shrug. "Not really."
He rolls his eyes. "How enlightening."
"Well, what do you want me to say?"
"I just want you to answer my questions like a normal person."
"Well, this isn't really a normal situation, is it?"
"No, it's not, but you might as well get used to it." I frown, and he reaches across the table, placing his hand on mine before adding, "I'm not your enemy, Ripley."
I quickly rip my hand away, bringing it back into my lap as the server arrives with our food. "Yeah, Dax, you kind of are. My memory clearly isn't as short as yours."
"Come on, Saige…I'll answer your questions if you answer mine."
I think it over while chewing my fries. "Fine. What do you want to know?"
He raises an eyebrow. "You come here often?"
I shake my head. "Are you serious?"
"You said you'd answer my questions."
"No. I grew up not too far from here, but I haven't been back since.
My friends and I used to come here every Friday after school.
The last time I came here, only my boyfriend showed up, and he dumped me.
My best friend was hiding in his car, laughing at me, so I never came back.
It was this booth, actually." I shove another fry into my mouth. "I think they're still together."
"Then why the fuck did you want to come here?"
"I like the fries," I say, shrugging. "Anyway, it hasn't bothered me in a long time—nothing has, really. I mean…the blood and guts in the back of my car bothered me, obviously, but I don't care enough about anyone anymore to let the things they do to me hurt me. I expect it now."
"Well, good for you."
"I guess." I have Elias to thank for that. But while I'm glad nothing hurts anymore, it also means nothing ever feels that good. "What's Dax short for?"
"It's not short for anything."
"You're lying. It must be something embarrassing."