Chapter 25.

When I reopened my eyes I realized I’d been in another strange dream again. I couldn’t really call it a nightmare since nothing too out of the ordinary happened, but it was still a strange dream nevertheless.

“It’s about time you woke up.”

When I raised my head I discovered my boss sitting directly across from me.

“Do you know what time it is?”

“No.”

“You idiot, it’s already an hour into your shift. Are you trying to give me more reasons to fire you?”

“Haha. Sorry, sorry. I was up late working on the camcorder in the box over there. I’m such a hard worker, don’t you think I should get a raise?”

“Are you an idiot? I was nice enough to let you stay here overnight and I come in to find you snoozing on the job. Shouldn’t I be docking your pay instead?”

“My benevolent beautiful beloved boss would never do such a thing.”

“Tch. Shut it and get to work already.”

“By the way boss, were you really just waiting here the entire time watching me sleep instead of waking me up?”

“Yeah, I needed to confirm exactly how many hours I needed to dock you for.”

“For real? It wasn’t because you were a psychotic stalker or anything like that?”

“I’m not one of your exes.”

“Haha. Right.”

“You looked like you were having an interesting dream though. What did you dream about?”

“I dreamt about how magnanimous my boss was for giving me a raise.”

She let out a slight chuckle, rolled her eyes, and shot a jeering smile in my direction. She merely responded with a ‘scram’ and ‘get lost’ while shooing me away like a pesky fly. I found it refreshing to see a reaction that wasn’t a psychotic one for a change.

When she was done with the small talk, she told me to get back to work before she got up and took her leave. Of course, not before she gave me another stern warning.

“Make sure I don’t find you slacking on the job again, or else.”

“Or else what?

“I’ll tip your exes off to your address.”

A chill went down my back as I pleaded, “please don’t.”

“Then you better wring yourself dry and work yourself to the bone to make sure things don’t come to that. I’m a busy woman. I don’t have time to babysit a problem child with as much baggage as you.”

A problem child?! Well, it’s not necessarily wrong.

“Uh, by the way… the thing about Rick…”

“Don’t bring it up. It’s a sad thing he’s dead, but as the boss around here, I can’t let it weigh on my employees’ minds. I’m running a business after all and deaths will affect efficiency and productivity. Don’t spread more unnecessary trouble for me to clean up.”

“Right.”

I was curious about why she was acting so friendly with me, but while thinking about it, I suddenly felt my psycho senses tingling. A ludicrous thought I didn’t want to entertain floated to mind. What if I was just being used as a scapegoat to throw off the cops’ investigation into Rick’s death? What if I was somehow disillusioned into thinking it was the work of a ghost?

What if my dream wasn’t a dream, but I was drugged and it was reality I’d seen back then rather than a simple nightmare? How else could the stopper from the hotel end up there? If there was someone who had enough money to pay or bribe a few people to manipulate data or security footage, that wouldn’t be impossible, right? Not only that, but she’s also the one who told me about the details pertaining to the investigation. In the end, the cops haven’t told me anything yet. What if there were things she lied about?

I’ve got my fair share of experience when it came to rich psychopaths after all. No, wait. I need to calm down. It’s said that if you set out to find something that isn’t actually there you’ll start twisting things to suit the situation towards your biased perspective. To begin with, my boss doesn’t have any reason to do any of this. Besides, as far as I’m aware, there were no conflicts between Rick and the boss anyways. But is there any way I can really be sure that this is the case?

Bzzzzzzt. Bzzzzzzt. Bzzzzzzt.

My train of thought was suddenly interrupted by the phone vibrating on my desk. I glanced at the number, but I didn’t recognize it. Despite not recognizing it, I still answered since it was a local number showing up on the caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Mr. Genovese?”

“Yes... it is. Who is this?”

“My name is Investigator Zenos, I work for the FBI. Is this a good time?”

“Sure... what is this concerning?”

“It’s regarding the statement you provided related to the deceased, Rick; we found a few contradictions in the official statement you provided and we wanted you to come down for further questioning.”

“What was wrong with the statement I gave?”

“We’ll discuss that when you come in.”

“I finish work at 7:00 PM, is it alright if I come down to the station then?”

“Yes, that will be fine. I’ll see you then. Goodbye.”

It looked like my boss was really telling the truth yesterday. There really was something up after all. If there really was no footage or anyone who witnessed me going to Rick’s place, then I’d really made quite a blunder in the statement I gave.

I know I’ve had time to think about it, but how can I explain the contradiction to them? Tell them it’s the work of ghosts? Hah! I’ll be tossed into a mental asylum in that case. Should I just make something up? I could just say I went to his place in my car, but never got out. It makes no sense, but it’s better than nothing I guess.

With my thoughts in a mess, I somehow fumbled my way through to the end of my shift. I departed the moment my shift ended and headed straight down to the station. I was a bit nervous, but I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible. I was no stranger to the station thanks to my crazy exes. I’d already lost track of how many times I’ve had to provide statements thanks to the insane things they’ve gotten me involved with.

The moment I stepped into the station, the first thing I heard from the receptionist who appeared peeved upon seeing me was, “Tch. You again? What crazy bitch did you date this time?”

“Haha. No one, but I’m here to give a statement. I was called in by Investigator Zenos.”

“Oh? Let’s see here. Hmm? A contradiction in a statement you provided? That’s rare for someone with your level of experience (lol).”

“Yeah. Yeah. I get it. I’m just a joke to you guys, aren’t I?”

“Ehem. Excuse me. Anyways, I see. A statement it is? I’ll ring him for you right away. One moment please.”

Deeeeeeeee. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Zenos speaking.”

“Mr. Genovese is here to provide his follow up statement.”

“Show him to boardroom one. I’ll be there shortly.”

“Alright.”

Click.

The receptionist stood up and led the way further into the station. It was already getting dark outside so all the lights in the station were presently on. The receptionist walked directly in front of me and guided me down the long hallway towards boardroom one.

We passed by the offices that lined both sides of the hallway that I’d already grown acquainted with after my previous visits to provide statements in the past. The tiles, walls, and ceiling were all pure white with the doors painted pitch black.

The station made use of low power, tube-shaped, fluorescent bulbs that emitted white light much unlike its incandescent predecessor. No matter how many times I visited the place, I always found it to be extremely creepy and off-putting. It was to the point that I often wished the person who thought up the design for the station would have been fired.

We walked down the hall for about a minute in silence, when we were almost at the boardroom, one of the lights in front of us flickered on and off momentarily as it gave off the buzz of a hyperactive dying bumblebee. The building was centrally air-conditioned, so it was also quite chilly as well. If the person who designed the place was aiming to scare the crap out of criminals, I had to admit they did a pretty good job. The place really gave off the spooky haunted type of atmosphere.

“Tch. Another loose bulb? What is the maintenance guy doing lately? I recently just had him replace that bulb too. He’s always doing a half-assed job.”

Despite the receptionist’s complaints, she temporarily ignored the bulb and we continued down the hall towards boardroom one. As we continued down the hall, a few more bulbs flickered on and off. The receptionist looked annoyed every time another bulb flickered, but she chose to remain silent instead of continuing with her complaints.