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“I’d like to get out of here before all five of us become suspects in a murder investigation,” the prof adds.
“Doc-doctor? P-professor?” Malia stammers. “What are you doing here? M-murder? What?”
“We’ll explain everything when we get home. Don’t worry,” I say, placing my hand on her knee. This time she doesn’t cringe away from my touch, so I take it as another good sign.
She fidgets with the hem of her dress, eyes glued to the rear-view mirror as if willing the prof to answer her, but he doesn’t. He floors it, and the car speeds off down the narrow back streets at a rate of knots.
A couple of corners later, the prof pulls over and climbs out. Reef follows, and Bhodi and I both open our doors too.
“What’s happening?” Malia asks in a panic.
“We’re just switching positions.”
Bhodi races around the front to try and take the wheel but I’m only two paces away so I beat him to it.
“Dick!” he spits, making me laugh.
“As if the prof was going to let you drive his baby with me around.”
“Shut up.”
“Pack it in, you two,” the prof snaps. “We’re going to walk back to the restaurant and enter through the exit you used. I called in some connections on the drive over so we’ll have a table set and it’ll seem like we were there this entire time—”
“Cosy date for two?” Bhodi sniggers.
“For a business meeting,” the prof replies, unimpressed. “I doubt the place is littered with students who can identify me, but will keep a low profile anyway, just in case. You all know your roles. Get going.”
He doesn’t wait for us to reply, turning on his heel and striding away down the street, Reef perfectly in step beside him. I belt up, close the door and wait for Bhodi to climb into the passenger seat.
“You should let Malia sit there,” I point out.
“I’m fine,” she interjects from the back. She’s still sitting in the middle seat but she has her belt on so I don’t mind. I’m not about to drive like a lunatic.
Catching her eye in the mirror, I grin at her. “I guess you’re gonna get to see my beach house sooner than expected then.”
“Dude,ourbeach house. Ours.”
“Wait. You guys know each other? Youlivetogether? And you know my doctor? And my professor? He lets you drive his car. And what did he mean when he said you know your roles? Do you work for him or something? He’s not just a cranky, uptight professor who needs to get laid, is he?” A laugh bursts out of me, but Malia looks absolutely horrified; she’s clamped her hands over her mouth and her eyes are even wider then when I found her huddled in a corner next to a dead body. “Please don’t tell him I said that.”
Bhodi roars with laughter. “You’re not wrong though.”
“How about we get back toourhouse and I run you a bath or a shower so that you can clean up. I’ll get you some clean clothes and then we can answer your questions. And maybe you can help us answer some of ours.”
“Okay.” Her expression becomes guarded, shuttered. She stares out of the window the rest of the drive and doesn’t say a word. Which is fine, but once we’re home I’m not about to let her shrink back into herself.
I’ll be more gentle than Bhodi will with the questions, but I still fully intend to get to the bottom of what’s happened tonight.
It’s a short walk back to the restaurant taking the back alley pathways that the car couldn’t fit down. The prof and I don’t run, but we don’t hang around either. The fire exit is thankfully still ajar when we reach it, and we can slip in undetected.
The hallway is dimly lit, but still opulent and ostentatious. I shake my head. This doesn’t seem like the sort of place Malia would come. The prof wordlessly signals for me to wait in the corridor for a minute, and steps into the restroom. The stench of blood hits my nose and my eyes widen.
Fuck! What happened in there?
I tiptoe to see over the prof’s shoulder and immediately wish that I hadn’t. The bathroom is carnage; worse than any scene from a horror film I ever saw.
“What happened?” I whisper.
“No idea. It doesn’t seem like a Shikari attack, but it’s not human either.”
