Waterproof

TWENTY-FOUR

Lakyn's apartment had a faint scent of something horribly disgusting when we first walked in.

"I'm thinking we split up," Carson told me.

I nodded. "I'll go this way, you check her room and the bathroom."

We divided. I found the bathroom first, and wasn't surprised to see that it was dirty and held no human body. But the smell was stronger here. I looked at the sink. There were empty alcohol bottles and a bunch of pills lying around. I turned around and came face to face with the door that I assumed lead into her room.

I took three deep breaths to calm my heart before opening the door.

The smell that had been haunting me throughout the apartment hit me like a freight train as soon as I pushed the door open.

Lakyn was lying on her bed.

I got closer so I could see her, since it was pretty dark in here. The only light was coming through the gap between the window and the blinds.

When I was next to her, I couldn't breathe because of the smell.

And I'd finally realized what it was.

It was the smell of death.

I screamed. So loud. Louder than I ever thought I could. I heard Carson's footsteps as he got closer. He turned the light on, unlike me. When he was standing next to me, he finally saw what I did. "Oh my God. Go, Ellie. Get out. Call the cops. Now."

When I didn't move, not that I didn't want to, I was just frozen, he spun me around and gave me a push. I saw that there was something on her dresser that looked like solid rocks of meth. Not that I knew what meth looked like, but it looked exactly the same as the pictures I'd seen in health class four years ago.

There were alcohol bottles all over the floor that I'd somehow missed stepping on earlier. Pill bottles, too. Either she had completely given up on herself and was just living life minute by minute, or she'd done this on purpose.

But she'd done it a while ago. She looked like she had been deteriorating.

I couldn't get the image out of my head. I left the apartment and went to sit outside her apartment building as I called the police.

"9-1-1, what's your emergency?"

Cliche'. "Um, my friend and I came to see our friend from high school." My voice was shaky.

"I don't see the big deal, hun," the girl said, her voice now laced with boredom.

"She's dead," I choked out. A sob escaped as the image of her resurfaced. For some reason, I added, "And there's meth on her dresser, I think."

"Oh, dear," her voice was sympathetic now. "Give us the address and we'll be there soon."

I recited the address and the apartment number, but I couldn't remember saying them when I hung up.

I sat outside and waited for Carson.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, he came out just as the police were walking towards me.

"Do you need anything from us?" Carson asked. They hadn't seen him come out of the room later than I had.

"Just tell us what happened as soon as you got here. From the top."

So I did. I started crying halfway through it without knowing, but I did feel Carson's hand when he grabbed mine.

"Thank you. Have a nice day, you two."

I had a feeling he didn't actually need a statement, but that he was trying to make us feel like we weren't waiting around for no reason. Even though Carson was in there the whole time.

"Let's go," Carson told me, dragging towards the elevator.

We made our way to the car, and he started it and backed out without saying anything. Finally, he found a park and he turned the car off after he'd found a spot in the parking lot.

"What were you doing in there? While waiting for the police?"

Carson sighed and then pulled something out of his pocket. "I got her phone. I was looking for other stuff that could be useful but all I found was this. I haven't got to look at it yet, but I was just about to."

"That's evidence, Carson."

He nodded. "I know. But I think it'll help us more. They don't really need to see her phone to know she was addicted to every drug out there."

"I guess so," I shrugged. "Go ahead. I want to see if we have anything."

Carson nodded. He pressed the power button and turned it on. It had thirty percent, so we'd need to charge it after a minute. But she had the same kind of charge port that Carson and I had, so that wouldn't matter.

He pressed the home button to open it, but there was a password.

Of course there was a password.

"I guess we'll have to wait until we get back. Sarah can help us with that."