Free The Blue Room Vol. 5 by Kailin Gow Page A

coming out of her
mouth, but they aren't words. They have no meaning.
                Then,
word by word, syllable by syllable, my brain pieces the facts together.
                Rita.
Dead. A few days ago.
                A
few days ago.
                That's
all.
                This
whole time, she's been here, so close, right under my nose. This whole time, I
could have found her.
                And
instead I left her to die in this place alone.
                “What
happened?” I'm trying to hold it together, trying not to cry.
                “Her
injuries were just too bad, I guess. Internal stuff. She just...didn't wake up
one day. That's all.”
                I
don't let myself cry. I can't cry. I can't even process this. Not here, not
now. But the tears must stream down my cheeks anyway, because the woman behind
the counter pats my shoulder and says; “It's good that someone's here who can
care for her. We've been searching for her relatives but I can't find anything.
We have some of her possessions, you know. Belongings that normally go to the
family. You might as well have them – we don't want to throw Virginia's clothes
away...”
                Virginia's?
Where have I heard that name before.
                She
leads me into a back room.
                “There,”
she says. “Everything Virginia had. It's yours.”
                No
wonder I hadn't been able to find Rita. She went by Virginia here.
                I
look at the objects Rita has left behind. A stack of clothes. Some jewelry. A
couple of books. All that's left of my dead best friend.
                I
could have saved you, Rita, I think, trying to stop the tears from falling. Oh Rita, if I could have only saved you.
                Then
I see the note. Written in Rita's hand. Some numbers.  A key, taped to the
paper. And a single word: Bayview.
                Rita's
bank.
                What
could it all mean?
                Unless...
                Then
it hits me. The numbers, the key. It all makes sense. Rita's directing me to a
safe deposit box at Bayview bank?
                But
why?
                There's
only one way to find out. There's only one way to get to the truth.
                I
head straight to Bayview Bank in Los Angeles. It's only a ten minute drive from
the Blue Hotel. I hold the key in my hand, fingering it until it's warm with my
sweat. These mysteries just keep getting curiouser and curiouser. I'm like
fucking Alice in Wonderland, I think. Always going deeper down the rabbit hole.
Never able to find my way out again.
                What
could Staci be hiding? Money? Jewelry?
                My
fingers shake as I open the safety deposit box.
                But
to my surprise, the box is empty.
                Almost.
                There,
in the back of the box, is a small box topped with an envelope: so thin I
almost missed it altogether. I pull out the envelope with trembling hands.
                There,
written in Rita's familiar handwriting, is one word and one word only: STACI.
                A
note for me? My eyes fill with tears as I take the note and open it, hungry to
read Rita's every word, hungry to read the last thing my best friend would ever
say to me.
                My
dearest Staci, the note began,
                I'm
so sorry that you're reading this note. If you're reading this, it means that
something has happened to me, that I was never able to explain all this to you
in person. If that's true, then I want you to know how much I love you. You
were more than a friend to me. You were a sister. But if something happens to
me, I know that I can't let you go on living without knowing the truth about me
and who I really