Death Is My BFF (Book 1 Original Series)

Chapter 29: Death By Changing Room

I put my hand on my forehead, suddenly feeling a wave of nausea. We both turned at the same time, to see a man sprint out of the store with a brown purse in his hands. “He was…he was… the store manager, but he didn’t…he didn’t seem to know what he was— did that man just have a purse?”

“I…I think he did!”

I frowned. “It looked famil--“

A fierce rip of pain shot through my stomach. I grabbed onto it, letting out a scream of pain. Everyone in the store stopped talking, to stare at me.

My friend grabbed my arm. “What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

I took a deep breath, as the pain subsided. “I uh, I’m going to find the bathroom in here. Stay here.”

She put her purse on top of a stack of clothes. “Do you want a Tylenol? Are you getting—‘

“No, please just…“

I lost my train of thought as I finally had tuned myself onto the song playing in the store, Don’t Fear the Reaper.

Come on baby, don’t fear the reaper.

Baby, take my hand, don’t fear the reaper.

My stomach dropped, as if those lyrics were meant for me. I turned slowly around the crowed store, clenching my stomach with my left hand.  He was somewhere in this store. “Marcy, I’ll be right back,” I told my best friend, not even looking at her.

I ran through the crowd of people, towards the back of the store. My stomach loosened in pain, as I pressed further, entering the dressing room.

It was practically empty, too empty. The sound of a stall door slamming shut brought my attention to the back of the large room. I crept along the stalls, searching each one.

Empty.

Empty.

“No,” a feminine voice screamed, following by an echo of sobs.

I crept at the edge of the last stall, knowing the voice was coming from outside of the stalls. I stepped out from my hiding spot, and covered my mouth from screaming. On the ground, on their back was the store Manager Eric, with a darkened spot in his stomach area. His blue eyes twitched slightly, as he grabbed at the knife in his body. The familiar woman in the tan dress rocked back and forth, crying hysterically. “No, no, no,” she sobbed, brushing his hair off of his forehead.  “Please come now!”

She looked up at me with huge brown eyes, as if she expected me to help him. “This man tried to kill me…my boyfriend tried to help… and he—got stabbed,” she got out quickly, speaking into the phone and to me between sobs. “Please hurry, bring an ambulance!

I stared at the scene, not knowing what to say. I robotically took off my sweatshirt, and held it onto the man’s back. “Is he breathing?” I asked her, taking control of the situation.

“I—I don’t know!” she stuttered frantically. I placed my fingers on his neck, feeling a faded heartbeat. She continued to cry, watching me try and stop the bleeding. The nausea sensation ripped through me again, now having to do with the blood I was kneeling in. “Is he…?”

I swallowed a lump in my through, not feeling his pulse anymore. “Go get something to soak up the blood! I’ll stay here with him,” I ordered the woman. She got up quickly at my order, running surprisingly fast in heels screaming for help.

“Oooh, that looks kind of painful,” a deep voice commented from the corner of the room. My head snapped up, to meet a hooded face, and a giant scythe gleaming under the stores light.