“Where is she? How is Loralai doing?”
“Go on up. Loralai is asleep. They gave her somethin’ to calm her down. Psycho just went back up. The baby is in NICU, whatever the fuck that means.” Betty sobs once more before she pats my shoulder and nods. I blow out a breath when she walks away, and a car pulls up. Glancing over, I see Trina trying to pull herself up. She falls back into the chair with a huff, and I move. I shouldn’t give two shits, and I really don’t, but she needs help. Let’s just say the shit from today has sparked the need to be helpful. Well, only for now.
“Let me help you,” I say, moving in next to her. I grab her under her arm and help her stand, leading her to the car door. I reach out, pull it open with my free hand, and help her settle inside. Reaching across her, I buckle her in.
“What the hell? Where did you pick up the hot nurse?” her friend asks with a laugh.
“Do I look like a goddamn nurse to you?” I raise an eyebrow, still leaning over Trina.
“If you were, I might get out and run myself over. Or drown so you could give me CPR.” She’s a bold one. I chuckle and shake my head, starting to pull back when Trina grabs my arm. I turn my head, our lips so close that I could kiss her if I wanted to.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“The other night.” I shake my head confused by what she means. Why thank me for that? I don’t understand, but I don’t ask either. “Hope the baby and your friend are okay.” I nod my head, unsure what to say to her. Instead of saying anything, I pull away and close the door. I don’t move. I stand here watching them pull away as I let that sink in. She thanked me. For what? Fucking her? Killing Dodge? What the hell?
My head is so fucked up and she made it worse. Trying to push all that away, I head back inside and up to the floor they took Loralai to. When I walk in her room, she’s awake. Her sad eyes find mine and my chest clenches.
“I don’t know that I should say this right now, but you look kinda hot in that gown.” Loralai cracks a smile and that melts me inside. She’s a good girl that came from a fucked-up past like most of us, but she still came out good, pure.
“You’re insane,” she whispers.
“I ain’t even lyin’. Damn girl.” She giggles a little, and it seems to break the tension in the room.
“You should have seen Freak in one when we were younger,” Psycho adds. Loralai turns to face him, interest piqued.
“When?”
“He got shot when we were fifteen. He had a hard-on for the nurse, too. You remember that?” he asks, looking over at me. I flip him off but he just chuckles.
“Yeah, I remember that. She was hot as fuck too. She asked if I could stand to get in the wheelchair and my gown looked like a goddamn tent,” I say. Loralai laughs and it sounds perfect. This is what we needed. A break from reality. A reality that we can’t even begin to understand.
11
Katrina
“Can you finish that batch?” I ask Abby, pointing to the cupcakes that are waiting to be frosted.
“Yeah, I got it.”
“Thanks.” I turn back to finish pouring the other batter into the tins for the special order that came in earlier. The guy wanted a shit ton of our Vampire Blood cupcakes. I know my mom’s recipe is amazing, but I’ve never sold this many of them before. Nevertheless, I love that people out there love them as much as I do.
“Who ordered those?”
“Some dude named Bryce. Didn’t even leave a last name,” I tell her. I hear the bell ding and quickly wipe my hands on the towel before heading out front.
“Welcome to S-”
“Katrina,” Philly says as he watches me intently.
“What the hell are you doing here? You can’t just show up at my job,” I hiss angrily at him.
“Don’t tell me where I can show the fuck up at.”
“What do you want, Philly?”
“Ash is out on club shit, but he wanted me to stop by and ask you about Dodge. Seems the motherfucker is missin’.” Shit. Not again with this shit.
“I told Ash and I’ll tell you, I ditched him by the bathrooms. Maybe he snuck off with some slut, I really wouldn’t know.” Philly steps closer and I can feel the tension press into me. My chest tightens and when he reaches forward, grabbing me around the neck, I nearly scream.
“I fuckin’ hated you from the day Ash brought your ass around. I still can’t stand lookin’ at you, but you know what? I know you’re lyin’ to me and Ash. And when the proof is in our hands, you are goin’ down,” he hisses, spit flying from his lips and spraying against my face. The urge to vomit is real but so is the urge to grab a knife and slit his throat. He doesn’t know the evil that lives deep down inside of me. The evil that I keep locked away from everyone because nothing good could can come of it.
“Don’t threaten me,” I say, grinding my teeth.
“If you were a smart little bitch, you’d watch how you talked to me. I can break you in a minute and toss your body in the Great Lakes. No one, and I mean no one, would give a shit.” Releasing my throat, he steps back and knocks some displays off the counter. Abby hears the noise and comes running, only to stop in her tracks when she sees him leaving.
“What the fuck is that about?” I reach up and rub my sore neck.
“Threatening me about Dodge.”
“What do you mean?”
“They can’t find him. They assume I know where he is,” I say, before moving around the counter to pick up the mess he made. Abby comes around and kneels down next to me.
“That blood was his, wasn’t it?” Shit. I curse myself internally for her seeing it. I didn’t think she did.
“You saw?”
“Who do you think threw it out?” I slowly raise my eyes to meet hers and she smirks.
“I didn’t want you in the middle of it, Abby.”
“You’re my best friend, Trina. I’m always in the middle of it. Is he?” She raises an eyebrow, careful not to say it out loud.
“Yeah, but it wasn’t me. I mean, I was there, but I didn’t do it.”
“Why were you there?”
“The guy at the hospital the other night? I kind of fucked him in the same room.”
“As the dead guy?” she gasps.
“Well, he wasn’t really dead when we were doing it.” She waves her hand in the air and I smirk at her.
“I don’t even want to know. Does Ash know? Is that why he did that to you?” I shrug my shoulders and stand with the trash in my hands.
“He doesn’t know. He suspects something but I didn’t tell him shit. What am I going to say? That I fucked a Royal Devils? I would have been dead in the kitchen that day.”
“The hot one… yeah, I would have fucked him too, but I thought you cared about Ash?” She looks confused and I don’t blame her.
“I did until I saw him with that girl. I thought I was going to make him jealous by messing around with Dodge but then we got into the basement and those guys were there waiting.”
“You know that looks bad, right?” I cock my head to the side.