“ A body has been found in the perimeters of the De La Cruz household. Police say the victim was killed and then transported to the forest; with the body mutilated and dismembered. Officers interviewed the Senator who has stated that he is going to assist the police in this tragedy. The victim’s family has been notified and the funeral services will be—“

The diner’s TV suddenly switched off.

“Who turned on this channel? You tryna’ spook my customers?” Enzo waved the tv remote in his hand with a scowl.

I kept my gaze focused on the dishes in front of me. Enzo was a sweet old man but could get pretty worked up easily. I had no intention of getting caught in the crossfire that had nothing to do with me. The tv was stationed behind the counter for the guests to see but we often used it to watch tv when the diner wasn’t busy. I was assigned to the back of the house so I could only hear the news, not see it.

My coworkers voiced their apologies to my boss until he disappeared back into his office. Then they opted to gossip about the murder case anyway.

I couldn’t really blame them; today was pretty much dead. The customers my boss feared we “scared off” seemed too spooked to leave their houses, let alone enter a diner. The De La Cruz house was basically a fifteen-minute drive. That was enough reason to have everyone clutching their pearls.

“I can’t believe the De la Cruz’s would do something like that,” my coworker Nina said, wiping the counter.

Tony leaned against said counter. “Well we don’t know if it was actually them,” he refuted.

“And we don’t know if they did anything,” my coworker Ayan said from my left. She was drying the dishes as I washed them. It wasn’t a two man job, but we were just trying to look busy so Enzo didn’t close the store early and send us home without pay.

“Tony, you’re just being defensive because the De la Cruz foundation paid for your nephew’s tuition,” Nina hissed.

Tony sat on the countertop much to Nina’s dismay. “You say that as if it’s a bad thing. Weren’t you and Ayan literally fawning over their son a month ago?”

“The dad,” Ayan corrected. “We were fawning over the Senator. I like ‘em older.”

Nina squealed in agreement. “Exactly. I don’t even remember what their son looks like. He’s probably in high school. I’m not trying to go to jail.”

I debated on telling them that Xavier was actually in his twenties and was a carbon copy of his father, and even went to my uni, but I didn’t wanna feed into their delusions and kept quiet. Besides, I hardly knew about the guy; our majors were completely different so I probably wouldn’t recognize him if he walked in right now.

They continued to talk about Senator De la Cruz and his hot actress wife, the murder case story having fizzed out and forgotten.

The idle chatter of my coworkers became background noise as I focused on making suds in the sink. There were no more dishes left to wash, so I scrubbed my hands clean, checking for signs of dried blood or dirt under my nails.

I envied my coworkers. They forgot the contents of last night within seconds while it’s been eating at me all day.

I had so many questions and nobody to voice them to without seeming crazy. How did I get home last night? Where was the blood? Was I hallucinating?

I had woken up in my bed, dressed in a pajama set with no memory of how I got there. My first thought was to call Stephanie but decided against it at the risk of her getting worried. I went searching for the outfit I was wearing when I saw Stephanie, but that was missing too. Down to the sneakers. I’d have to ask Marisol about it later.

I ended up hearing the news story through the bus’s radio on my way to work this morning and while the body still hadn’t been identified, I couldn’t help but feel concerned.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Maybe I wasn’t as crazy as I thought. Maybe I was actually there in that forest and Stephanie was dead. But that was crazy talk. I could hardly trust myself or my memory anymore.

The chime of the bells in front of the door pulled me out of my thoughts and lulled my coworkers mute. This was our first customer since we opened today.

“Are you guys not open?” A deep, sultry voice asked.

I shamelessly poked my head out to see who came in.

In front of me stood a man with a black wolf cut and a baseball cap that shielded his eyes. He stood about my height, maybe shorter. His gray t-shirt and loose jeans stood in contrast to his tanned skin. His outfit choice threw me off being how cold it was outside but that was all there was to it.

Nobody else was paying attention to him and last thing I wanted was for Enzo to complain that we weren’t serving customers.

“We are open.” I state, matter-of- factly and handed him a paper menu. I zoned out while he took his time searching through the menu.

I thought back to all my previous disassociation episodes as my fingers rubbed my wrist. I always had to haul an Uber from the most strangest of places when I would come to. But last night, I came to at my home.

I groaned internally. Maybe I should’ve told Dr. Gordon about my “episodes.”

“There’s not many vegetarian-friendly options on here…” He flipped over the menu. I noticed his bruised hand full of cuts and scars that looked fresh. For someone so rugged looking, he sure seemed like a meat eater.

“You made the wrong choice coming to this diner then.” I cocked my head to the side. “Even the water isn’t vegan friendly.”

He handed me back the menu. His cap looming over most of his face still. “I’m vegetarian, not vegan.”

“Well whatever you are, we have salt and pepper packets. That’s the best you’re going to get.”

He chuckled, “You’re real funny. Just get me a water with lemon to start.” He took a seat in the booth closest to the door as I headed to the back to get his water.

My coworkers were still talking amongst themselves and I brushed past them to get a glass. Enzo reappeared from his office and every head turned his way.

“Sorry girls… and Tony.” He nodded towards him. “Since there’s no customers, I have to send you guys home.”

We all collectively groaned.

“This is some bull. I got rent in two weeks Enzo.” Tony huffed.

Enzo sighed. “Fine, you can stay and clean up the soda machine. The rest of you have to go.”

I told Enzo about the guy siting in the booth and handed him the glass before I headed out. I was not complaining about a night off. I ended up paying Uber to get home today since the next bus wouldn’t come for another hour. I figured I should limit my time on these dead streets considering what happened last night and everything.

I opened up the door to my apartment expecting to have it all to myself, but was greeted by Marisol who looked like a deer in headlights. She dropped all the envelopes she had in her hand and scrambled to grab them.

Marisol was my mom’s church friend. I’d known her ever since I was around 13 years old. Ever since the accident, she’s been pretty much taking care of me and my apartment. I've gotten better and don’t need her as much anymore but she still likes to drop by every now and then. Not that I was complaining since she cooked me meals and made sure my room is clean.

Though this time I wasn’t quite sure what she was doing here.

Marisol sniffed as she stood back up. “Hey Janae, I didn’t realize you’d be coming back so early.”

I nodded at her before kicking off my shoes and tossing my bag in the corner. Then I paused. Marisol was acting weird. Normally she’d reprimand me for not using the rack or for not tucking in my shoes.

Instead she stood there with a guilty look on her face.

“What’d you do?” My eyes started scanning around the house when her face wouldn’t give away anything.

Everything seemed to be in place; every room was sparsely populated with moving boxes I had yet to open minus the black leather couch in the living room and my canopy bed in my bedroom.

But the house had also seemed to be in good shape that time Marisol accidentally flooded my bathroom trying to fix the toilet.

“I didn’t do anything!” Marisol shouted at me from the kitchen. I retreated from the bathroom with a sigh and joined her.

I perched onto the counter. The stools were still packed in their boxes courtesy of my laziness. I just didn’t see the point if I was the only one who lived here. If it weren’t for Marisol’s nagging, I wouldn’t have unpacked the couch either.

“What is it then?”

She didn’t bother to look at me. Her high ponytail bounced as she bent down to look in my fridge. “I’ll tell you later. What do you want to eat?”

I scowled. I noticed her quick subject change. I was a 22 year old woman, not some fragile egg. Still, I didn’t fight her. “Spaghetti with hotdogs.”

She gave me a grateful smile before she turned to wash her hands in the sink.

I took that as my chance to look at the mail Marisol brought in. I sifted through them rather quickly, most of them were bills and insurance notices. I noticed an envelope with my name on it in cursive letters. It was hand printed.

“What’s this? An invitation?” I held up the paper. I began to open up the letter.

“Wait! Don’t read it!” Marisol lunged for me but it was too late.

Celebrating the life of Stephanie Marlow.

A treasured daughter and friend. Forever loved and never forgotten.

March 13th, 2001 - October 2024

I closed the envelope. What a sick joke.

Marisol began to cry. “I’m so sorry Janae,” she pulled me in for a hug. “I had went and grabbed your mail when Stephanie’s mom called and—“

She broke out into a sob. I gently pushed her off me. Crying made me uncomfortable.

“I couldn’t believe her words and I had to see it myself. I’m so sorry!” Some more cries and snot began to run down her nose. “I know you two used to be close in high school but—

Marisol’s voice started to sound far away. Her words weren’t making any sense to me.

“I just saw Stephanie yesterday… This doesn’t seem right.”

Marisol stopped her rambling and looked at me with her bright red eyes, her brows etching in confusion. She genuinely seemed concerned for me.

”Janae, no one has seen her for four days straight.”

I let her words linger in the air. I fidgeted with the invitation, trying to remember what happened in the past four days. All I could think about was what happened this morning and my meeting with Stephanie. Everything else was blocked off.

But how could Stephanie be dead? That would mean that that nightmare was real. That would mean that I was in the woods the night Stephanie died, but I can’t remember how I got there or what I was even doing.

That would mean I could’ve potentially hurt Stephanie without realizing it.

But that’s impossible, right?

I didn’t stick around for what else Marisol had to say and stormed off to my room.

Stephanie was not dead.