Dex is holding the bag out to me, and I don't really think about it before reaching out for it. He puts it in my arms, but doesn't completely let go. I'm confused as to why, when he keeps his hands underneath even when he's placed the full weight of it in my arms. It makes sense when it throws me off kilter and I start to tip over, though. I nearly drop it, but since he never fully let go, he keeps it stable.

He's also giving me a knowing look. One that irritates me, and I can't help the way my eyes narrow at him. How did he know I wouldn't be able to carry it? Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking. Dogfood is unnecessarily heavy, and always has been, so I don't carry it. I drag it. Throwing it on that top shelf took every last molecule of strength in me, and I needed to fucking rest afterwards. For an hour.

"Where do you want it?" Dex asks me, an air of pride about him. I can't tell if it's at my expense or not, and the cocky look on his face causes a completely different reaction within myself than typical. Typically, I'd find it irritating. I don't.

"J-Just, uh..." oh my god, this entire situation is just so embarrassing. I hate relying on people. I don't want to rely on anyone, ever. Dex needs to leave. I should kill him. "You can put it... on, I mean. You can put it by her cage."

Why am I stuttering so much, anyway? Why am I so nervous? It is nerve racking to have a cop in my house, so maybe that's it? There's also just something about him, though...

Fluffy quite literally never gets locked in her cage, for any reason. The few times I've needed to, when I was cleaning or something, she strongly disliked it and even seemed to be mad at me for a while afterwards. She really values her freedom, which is part of why she likes to be walked, even though my apartment has a small yard.

The only time she ever uses her cage is when she's eating. For some reason when she eats, she likes her privacy. Even in the cage, she won't do so until I put a towel over the door, which is the only part of the cage where you can actually see her. Yep, total privacy or nothing.

I watch Decari walk across the room to her cage, setting the bag gently beside it. I immediately pull a knife from my pocket—I basically always have some sort of knife on my person at all times—and cut the tip of the bag open. Fluffy gets in her cage and I fill up her bowl, closing the door and putting the towel over it, as is our routine.

Then, I stand back to my full height, and find Dex not even looking at me. No, his attention has been completely stolen by a specific box on a nearby table. He's frowning at it, and I watch him take a step forward, pulling out a familiar newspaper.

Uh oh.

I knew this was a bad idea!

Earlier in my career, I may have had somewhat of an infatuation with the news headlines of my murders. I also may have kept them. It's a habit I've gotten out of, considering how typical it is of serial killers and just generally suspicious. However, I never got rid of the ones I kept while I still did. Clearly, that was a mistake, and I'm about to face the consequences for my own stupidity.

"Wow, you have a lot of Doctor headlines." Dex remarks, picking up another one and frowning at it, glancing back at the box, then the one in his hand. "This is from over a year ago."

Oh, this is bad.

This is really fucking bad. What reason would I have to keep all these news articles of The Doctor Of East Hadena, if I wasn't him? Or... or if I didn't have some sort of infatuation with him?

"Yeah, he..." think, think, think. "I suspected that he killed my sister a while ago, but nothing ever came of it."

Okay, that's something. Not a horrible excuse, but definitely not the best. If Dex asks for any specification, or decides to do some digging on his own, I'm done for. I don't even have a sibling, let alone a sister. See? This is what I'm talking about. I'm not used to having to hide things from someone so thorough. Having Decari in my life will be the greatest test of all, hopefully it doesn't last.

"Well," Dex replies, putting the newspapers away and looking back at me. He doesn't appear to find me suspicious, which is good, but I'm not out of the woods yet. "That's unlikely. Most of his victims are male."

Wow, have the police really not made a connection between them yet? Yeah, they're mostly men. Guess why? Men commit more atrocities, that's just a statistic. They are the violent crime majority. I've only had a handful of female victims through the years, and I'm not even sure if any of them were found. As it stands, the police only tend to find (on average) half of the bodies I dispose of.

I have no response for that, without likely giving something away, so I just shrug. Dex looks my face up and down, considering me for a moment, before he continues talking.

"You've studied him, though? For years? You might be able to help my investigation. I could use it, this guy is really good. Your anatomy knowledge could help, too."

I can't help but just stare at Dex for a moment, and he looks at me right back, expression one of expectation. I know I can't turn him down without raising suspicion, I just can't believe I keep getting in these situations. It's one thing after another, gradually easing me closer and closer to spending every goddamn waking moment with this guy.

How on earth am I supposed to stay away from him, when he's constantly finding ways to see me? I know it's not on purpose, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating.

"Yeah. Uh, I'll help," I reluctantly agree, and Dex gives me a warm smile. It practically makes my heart stop.

I probably should've moved.

"Okay, give me your number. I'd like to stay in touch." Dex tells me, holding out his phone. I look at him for a moment, but am fully aware I don't really have a choice. As I comply, I try to figure out where it all went wrong.

I fail. No single instance comes to mind, just an abundance of wrong decisions. How many more am I going to make, before we're best friends? Before he finds out? It's official, I need help, and I only have one option: Willow.

I name my contact Camilo, and put in my phone number, before handing his phone back to him. He glances down at it for a moment, before looking back up at me.

"Camilo? You don't go by anything else?"

I frown at him, feeling confused, while his caramel eyes just study me. I have no idea what he's getting at—is he asking if I have a nickname? "No, I don't."

Decari hums, eyes lingering on me for a moment, before pocketing his phone. "We'll have to fix that. I'm gonna head out, let me know if you need help with anything else."

We do not need to fix anything. I did not need help. I never needed any help, I never wanted any, either. He just... trapped me. That's it, the end, and that weird thought I had earlier about having someone to do my heavy lifting meant nothing. I want him far away from me. Forever. I'm lucky he hasn't connected any dots yet, and I'm positive the main reason for that is the fact that I'm so... non-threatening, as a person.

Keeping my secret matters above anything else, including whatever weird business relationship Decari is trying to start. Unfortunately, it appears as though participating in said business relationship is the best way to keep said secret.

"Thank you," I tell him, and he smiles at me again. I look away, realizing that I'm fidgeting with the strings on my pants, and pulling my hand away immediately.

Decari hums, before taking his exit, and I'm immediately pulling out my phone. I haven't slept in over 24 hours, but that's fine. There are more important matters at hand, I'll sleep when I'm dead.

"Hello?" Willow answers from the other end, and I put the phone between my shoulder and my ear as I begin moving the towel and unlocking Fluffy's cage, since she's done.

"Willow," I say, frustrated and mad at myself for being so sloppy. "We need to talk about my neighbor."

She hums. "Yeah, you mentioned something about him."

It's time to come clean. I'm sick of dealing with this shit on my own, and starting to care less and less about phone call cautionary. As long as I don't say anything explicitly incriminating, I'll be fine. I have much more to worry about in the way of Lead Investigator Dex at the moment.

"He's already a problem. I have no idea what to do." I admit.