A Not So Shocking Murder by Lily Stirling

Author:Lily Stirling [Lily Stirling]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-09-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

When I opened the door to my room that night, I was met by a blast of heat. What had happened? Why was my room ninety degrees?

I’d woken up to an air-raid siren. Had it been warm then? It was hard to say. But it had been comfortable the night before with Juniper.

Juniper. I didn’t know how, but it was absolutely her fault. Time to give her a quick call.

“What’s up?” Juniper asked. Her cheerfulness was extra annoying, given the oven I was standing in.

I skipped any pleasantries. “Juniper, why is my room so hot?”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

“Juniper?”

When she did speak, her voice was as close to apologetic as it ever got. “I guess I forgot to turn off the baseboard heater after our movie night.”

“Juniper!”

She squeaked out a quick, “Sorry,” before ending the call. Probably for the best, given how irritated I was.

My room had baseboard heating? Since when? I found the baseboard on the third wall. Turning it off was easily done, but there remained the problem of my room being a sauna. I tried leaving the door open, but garage fumes of spilled gasoline and oil began wafting into my room. Also, I wasn’t confident downstairs was mouse free. Closing the door, I looked for alternatives. The big picture window above the couch didn’t open. However, a further inspection showed an ancient AC unit jammed in the bathroom window that had previously been as ignored as the baseboard heater.

The AC was so old, it might do nothing besides cough up smoke and die. Still, my shirt was sticking to me, and I was desperate enough to give the relic a try. Rancid smoke didn’t seep from the machine, but a fine layer of dust and allergens were kicked up, causing a bout of sneezing.

Draping a sheet across the couch, I lay down in nothing but my plaid boxers. I didn’t bother closing the curtains to the window above me. Sure, the dumb thing was sealed shut, but being able to look outside made the room less oppressive. The door to the bathroom was open, encouraging the breeze to reach me where I lay, looking up at the moon. Settling in, I wondered how long before I’d fall asleep in the heat.

The thing is, I woke up later and couldn’t figure out why. There had maybe been a crash. I was definitely in pain. My room was still dark. It had to be the middle of the night. When I tried to move, daggers of pain tore through my skin.

If forced awake, I’m more zombie than human. When I returned from my German study abroad, I could have been declared brain-dead for the first half of winter break, even with Mom’s coffee and Dad’s winter walks. This was one of those times. I couldn’t get my bearings. I couldn’t quite remember where I was. When I scratched at something on my chest, it bit both my hand and rib cage. For an insane moment, I wondered if the murder bug had gotten me.

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