Skylar's POV

"I don't know," I whispered. Then I shook my head and whispered again, "I don't know."

The officer sitting right in front of me exhaled shortly and linked his hands together, his steely gaze still fixated on me. It made my hands shake.

"Ms. Anderson, your neighbor heard you screaming and when she checked up on you, you had a box opened in front of you." He stated it like I hadn't already been there. "A box that contained remains of a deceased person."

Remains. I clenched my fists in a way that hurt.

"What you're saying is that you have no idea where that box and its contents came from."

I shook my head again, this time sliding my hands beneath my thighs. There was this lump in my throat and I was afraid I would throw up if I were to say anything right now.

The officer was growing impatient, I could see that. He stood up, his chair scraping against the floor, and I flinched a little.

"It-It was a parcel." I blurted out. "It was on my doorstep when I arrived back from my classes."

And oh god, my eyes stung. Because I could see it again. I could see the thing that had been inside that box all over again, and I wanted to heave.

"All right." Perhaps he must've finally seen the poor way I was currently handling myself. "The watch guard who was on duty during the day is going to be questioned in a minute. You can head out to the waiting area until you're cleared."

"What about the...the box? Where is it now?"

"It's with the forensics. You'll be notified when the reports come up, Ms. Anderson."

And that was it. He didn't say anything more. He didn't say that it could belong to Mrs. Marshall--whatever that had been inside that box. He didn't really say anything even remotely related to Mrs. Marshall.

But I knew. I knew enough. Mrs. Marshall was dead. And bits of her dead brain was delivered to my apartment doorstep.

My fucking doorstep.

I stood up from my chair and rushed outside, nearly stumbling into two officers who were in the way as I headed for the waiting area.

Alex met me halfway there.

"Sky! Jesus." He instantly pulled me into a hug and I couldn't quite comprehend why I stiffened. Soon, Alex was pulling away with his hands on my shoulders. "What in the world happened? Are you all right?"

No, I wanted to say. God, no.

"I'm...I'm fine. It's just..." I trailed off and looked at him helplessly.

"You're shaking, Sky." He rubbed my arms, the furrow in between his brows deepening. "Come on. Let's sit you down somewhere."

Once I was seated on one of the empty chairs, Alex kneeled down in front of me, grabbing both of my hands in his. His were warm. I felt cold. As cold as that--

"It was her brain, Alex." A whisper escaped my lips. I swallowed and the knots in my stomach tightened a bit more. "There were...pieces."

Alex's expression, I suppose, matched my own on the levels of horror and disbelief.

"What?" He asked loudly, then lowered his voice. "Her? Who the hell are you talking about?"

I didn't want to repeat the whole scene to him, not when I'd already done exactly that with three separate police officers. But Alex hadn't been there. He'd only barely seen me getting escorted inside a police cab when he'd reached my apartment.

So I told him everything. Everything that my shakiness let me say.

I told him how I'd just reached back to my apartment, saw that box delivered to my doorstep, and opened it once I was inside. I told him what had been in it. Not even a whole fucking brain. There had been pieces of it, and there had been blood--so much of it--and the smell...god, if only I could get it out of me.

"Hey, hey, easy there." He suddenly cut me off, squeezing my knee when I started bouncing my leg. "All right. I get it. But you need to take deep breaths, Sky, or you're gonna faint. You hear me?"

I could hear him, but I couldn't at the very same time. I wanted to throw up and just...somehow get that gruesome image out of my head.

Alex got up and squeezed my shoulder. "I'll get you some water. Stay here."

He went off towards a vending machine and I anxiously looked after him. My neighbor--the old lady who'd found me screaming in horror when I had opened that box--had already left the precinct by then, I noticed.

She'd rushed over, I remembered, fussing over me and calling the police when she herself had taken a peek inside of it.

And I wouldn't have touched it, I cursed in my head. No, I fucking well wouldn't have touched one of those pieces if I hadn't seen the tiny white envelope stuck behind it.

A sealed white envelope marred with dried blood.

Show this to anyone else and the next time it will be someone much closer to you, it had said on the outside.

Instinctively, I wiped my fingers on my jeans and wrapped my arms around myself. I could've felt it, the envelope still inside my jacket pocket. I probably should've shown it to one of those officers. Maybe even Alex. But I hadn't. Not with that clear threat written on it. Not when I didn't know what was inside it.

The fear of it all didn't let me.

Alex came back after a few long seconds and didn't ask me anything until I'd drained half of the water bottle that he handed me.

"Better?" He was worried still. I nodded, even though I could now feel the water anxiously churning in my stomach. "I'm sorry I wasn't there on time. There was traffic in the way and I would've--"

I gripped his hand this time and he fell silent.

Mrs. Marshall, I thought once again as silence fell upon us. She was dead. Dead. By the same person who'd killed her, carved her brain out, and wrapped it in a fucking box before sending it to me.

Could it have been Alexis?

"Look, we don't know for sure if it belonged to Mrs. Marshall," Alex spoke up once again. "Maybe it wasn't even a human brain, Sky. Maybe whoever sent it to you just wanted to freak you out."

They would think I'm lying, I thought. Those officers thought I was lying. They'd think I had something to do with Mrs. Marshall's--

"I am freaked...out," I said, heard my voice break, and dropped my head in my hands. "Oh god, Alex. Oh god."

"Sky." He tugged on my shoulders and pulled me into his arms again. "Hey, hey, I'm right here."

He was, I told myself. He wouldn't leave. At least I was gripping him like I thought he would leave.

We stayed like that for seconds, minutes, until Alex finally let go of me and I glanced up at the officer heading our way. The custody officer who'd met me the moment I'd stepped inside this station.

"Ms. Anderson." She nodded. "We've sent the remains to be checked for blood samples. Results haven't come out yet, but we've come to believe that what you received in that box may just match the victim."

A beat of silence passed by and I couldn't help but hear it again and again in my head. Remains. Remains. Remains.

"What victim?" Alex asked since I pretty much couldn't have.

"The murder that took place in the Marshall's household just last night. Sarah Marshall." She replied, gaze moving from Alex and to me. "We're still waiting for more insight on it. I would suggest though, that you give a call to your lawyer if we do call you in for questioning again."

I opened my mouth but closed it shut the very next instant.

Alex bristled. "I don't think she should be brought in for questioning again. She told you what happened. That box was delivered to her doorstep. Shouldn't you be catching the person who sent it to her?"

Alex was angry, but I didn't think telling an officer what they should do would get us both anywhere.

"We're doing what we think is best related to this investigation, sir." The custody officer said. "And we're still waiting for the reports to show up. What I'm saying is, if they do perfectly match Mrs. Marshall's blood samples collected from the crime scene, it does put Ms. Anderson in a predicament."

I didn't really hear her much after that. I saw Alex nodding along, the tiny furrow still in between his brows. I saw the way his gaze flickered to me once and twice. And my fingers itched to just take out that envelope. Open it up and see what was inside.

Someone had killed Mrs. Marshall--an innocent--just because I knew her. Just because I spent some of my time with her. That was it. She'd done nothing and she'd been murdered like nothing of her life had mattered.

"Sky."

I swallowed and blinked and was a bit taken aback when I realized that Alex and I were already out of the police station, standing in the parking lot under the almost-night sky.

Alex was looking at me in a way that easily showed the worry on his face.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Come with me." He placed a hand on my back and steered me away from the building. Away from where his car was. "I saw a tiny cafe just blocks away. How about I buy you a muffin, hm?"

I let him pull me along even though thinking of eating anything right now would only make me want to throw up quicker.

Alex wasn't wrong, though. We soon were inside the little cafe which seemed a bit busy for the night, but was still warm in a way the outside wasn't.

By the time he was done ordering a series of muffins for me (since he was worried and couldn't quite decide on one) and a coffee for himself, he faced me across the booth we were sitting at and sighed, rubbing his entire face with both of his hands. I was back at bouncing my right leg anxiously.

"You want me to call Caden?"

I blinked at him, and wasn't it weird that it took me a while to understand what he was saying? It felt like my brain was fogged. With what, I didn't know. All I felt was dread for what waited ahead.

If this wasn't Alexis's doing, who else is after me?

"Sky?" He nudged me softly on the arm.

"I don't..." I trailed off. "I don't feel like..."

Alex sighed again and nodded. The waitress came by and placed his mug of coffee with a polite smile.

"I'm still calling him," he said once she was gone. "You don't have to talk to anyone if you don't want to. But I do...think he should know about this."

Show this to anyone else and the next time it will be someone much closer to you.

I nodded and watched as Alex took out his phone and dialed Caden's number, wrapping his free hand around the steaming cup as he waited.

I leaned back on the leather seat and wondered where Chicken was. I vaguely remembered Alex reassuring me that she was fine and staying with someone. But what if she wasn't fine? What if the same person who'd killed Mrs. Marshall came after my cat?

The next time it will be someone much closer to you. It wasn't an empty threat. When were the threats ever empty?

I curled my hands into fists and blinked out of it, out of my head, and watched as Alex talked into his phone.

"Yes, yes...no! Fuck, man, how the hell am I supposed to know?" He frowned, staring down at the table as he listened to what Caden must've been saying to him. "Yeah, she's fine. Well, I think she is."

Alex looked up at me and raised his brows helplessly before lowering his voice, "Look, Caden, Sky's a bit dazed right now. You using that tone won't...I've already tried talking to her but she's been...yeah..." And he ended that with a wince, glancing up at me as if afraid that I'd been listening.

A second or so passed by before Alex sighed, aggravated, and held out his phone to me. "Talk to him, Sky. He's threatening me like I'm the one who dragged you to that police station."

I stared down at his phone, the screen flashing to life with Caden's name on it, and I found myself wondering what even would I tell him. Tell Caden. Was there anything I could tell him without letting those words on the envelope ring in my ears?

"I gotta use the restroom," I told Alex as I pushed myself away from the leather seat, gripping the edge of the table as I slid out of the booth.

Alex's expression didn't take a second before turning alarmed. "Sky, wait--"

"I need to pee," I told him, tried reassuring him. "I'm fine."

He didn't seem convinced, but I didn't bother staying there for a second longer. Not when the envelope in my jacket pocket and the image of Mrs. Marshall lying dead on her house carpet were weighing me down like heavy heavy rocks tied to my shoulders.

I stepped inside the restroom and into an empty stall, closing the door shut behind me. My legs seemed to give in the moment I locked it and I pressed my head against the closed door, my hands fumbling with my pockets as I took out the envelope.

I nearly gagged this time when I had it out and could see the blood on it, feel the dried bits beneath my fingertips, and it slid out of my grasp.

Breathing heavily with a hand over my mouth, I leaned down and picked it up, fingers trembling as I tore it open.

There was just a tiny photograph inside, bent on the edges and almost...almost too worn out to be recognizable.

But as I took it out and held it between my fingers, I could make it out just fine under the restroom lights. Because I knew who was in it. I knew that face. I knew that smile. I knew those green eyes.

It was Caden.

A photograph of Caden.

Leaning against old rusty railings of a bridge that I knew was familiar, but couldn't remember where I'd seen it, head angled just a little towards the sky. And I'd never seen him this...this happy. It almost brought a strained smile to my own lips when I couldn't, I couldn't help but trace my thumb over his features. So happy. Hair a bit shorter than it was now. And there were no shadows under his eyes. No exhaustion haunting him. None that I could see in that photograph.

But then my eyes flickered to the motorcycle beside him, his familiar black motorcycle, and I saw the reflection of a girl in its rearview mirror, holding up a dark camera to her eye as she snapped the picture.

The picture that was now in my hands.

I didn't know who she was. I couldn't really see her, not when most of her was just a blur. Yet it still made my stomach twist in a way that only felt horrible.

Turning the photograph around, I stared at the words scribbled on it.

Costa Bridge.
9th of May.

Play along, Skylar.
I have a secret to confess.

•••••

When I somehow managed to convince Alex that I was fine to go back to my apartment, especially since I really needed to check up on Chicken, he agreed and dropped me off.

"Just call me, will you?" He asked me as he stopped the car in front of my apartment building. "When you get up there. I'll come by tomorrow morning and we'll talk to your parents together, okay?"

I nodded.

"Sky." He stopped me before I could've opened the door. "Call him. Caden, I mean. He's worried."

And out of the city, Alex had told me earlier in the cafe once I'd gathered myself and came back from the restroom. He was out of the city. Out of town and not here. Doing what?

"I will," I said.

I was mostly upstairs, wondering if Nova would be back home already and if she'd already heard of what had happened here, when I saw someone familiar standing by the elevator.

Alexis.

"Hey." She said as I neared her, her gaze following my every move. "I saw you with Alex down there."

"What are you doing here?" I asked her, glancing around before looking back at her. "You shouldn't be here."

She raised a brow. "I saw you getting dragged in a police car, by the way."

All of a sudden, amidst the exhaustion and fear, I just felt angry. Furious.

"I thought we were done with the whole stalking!" I hissed, jabbing a finger at her. "Why the fuck were you following me around?"

She seemed a bit taken aback.

"You know what? I'm done dealing with this shit!" I gritted out. "You have problems with someone else, take it out on them! I'm not here for you and every other sick person out there to be played with like a fucking toy!"

"That is a bit dramatic."

"I am done with this shit!"

Was I, though? Was I done with this when I still had that envelope in my pocket? That photograph of Caden inside it, taken by someone I knew nothing of? Some girl that had made Caden smile like...like he couldn't ever remember being so happy. A happiness that I could've seen in his eyes. A happiness I could see on his face.

So free of every burden that he carried now.

"Skylar." Alexis snapped at me and I blinked. She frowned. "I have a feeling you think I had something to do with it."

I only tried swallowing the tiny, painful lump in my throat.

"I didn't have anything to do with Sarah Marshall's murder." She shrugged. "Or the break-in that happened at her house. You do remember when that happened, I was too busy knocking you over the head, don't you?"

I stared at her until her dark obsidian eyes grew even more confused.

"When I left you stranded in the woods?" She prodded. "I didn't have anything to do with that break-in."

So, it hadn't been Alexis. Someone else, I thought. Someone else who's been following me around. Someone else who has been keeping a track of me. How many days? How many were they?

Alexis sighed when I still didn't say anything. Then she was taking out something from her back pocket. A USB drive, I noticed as she held it out to me. "Give this to your boyfriend, will you?"

I didn't take it.

"It has the video of Rena I showed you in that library." She clarified. "Look, I know Caden is still hesitant about letting Blake go. This might be the only proof he needs to finally accept the fact that Rena is alive. And we need to act quick."

No, I thought. No, we didn't. There was someone else out there. Someone who probably had Rena. Someone who'd sent those hooded men to attack Alexis and me in the library. Someone who'd killed Mrs. Marshall. And someone who...who wanted me to play along.

I blinked and slowly took the drive from Alexis's hand.

"Give this to him." She said. "Believe me, Sky. This is bigger than all of us think. And getting dead organs delivered to our doorsteps won't be the worst thing that happens."

No, it wouldn't be.