Jenny quietly closes the front door of her house. It was nine in the morning and she was out all night. She was glad she always carried a spare key. She smiles as she leans back on the door. She had a great night.
Jacob was fun to hang out with. They took a walk around the city, talking and getting to know about each other. Apparently Jacob turns eighteen in a few weeks. He is a high school graduate. She asked if he's going to college and he said no. He is pretty content with working at Ava's. She tells him about her. That she is still seventeen and has a year of schooling left. She tells him about her brother, Jeff. About the fun times they had. Her adventures, her likes and dislikes. They shared so many things.
She didn't tell him that Jeffrey was dead. And that Jasper is a grim reaper. She didn't tell him about her bullies. She didn't tell him about her being suicidal. Those were secrets she planned to keep to herself.
No one can ever know.
She smiled again. Jacob kept her happy throughout the night. They also had hot snacks and street food every now and then. They hadn't realised the time passed. And when the sun rose, Jacob insisted on getting breakfast and then made sure he dropped her home after breakfast. He then went back to his home to freshen up and go to Ava. He was going to take care of her during the day. Eric told that he'll take care of her at night.
It felt nice to have a boy wait until you get inside home. She also felt warm and fuzzy remembering the hug they shared last night. He showed his vulnerability to her. Once someone does that to you, it means you're special or really important to them. She had read that somewhere. She was glad he trusted her. She wanted to get closer to him.
But happiness doesn't last forever does it?
“Where were you?”
She looks up to see mom sitting on the couch, phone in her hand. Jenny could see the screen. Mom was on a call. Probably with that guy.
Jenny's blood boiled in anger, remembering whatever happened at the cafe yesterday evening.
“Outside.”
“Outside? All night? Doing wha?!” Mom yells. Jenny flinches.
“Mom, it's okay. You don't have to worry about it. I'm back now.” Jenny sighs. She didn't want to look at her mom right now. She didn't even want to talk to her. She was used to the yelling anyways.
“Answer me! Why weren't you home?!”
Jenny just walks past her to the master bedroom. She opens the door to see dad fast asleep on the bed. He looked so peaceful, a small smile on his lips. She closes the door and looks back at her mom.
“Please don't yell. Dad is asleep.” She tells and walks up the stairs. Enters the room and locks the door behind her. She sits on the bed and quietly waits.
5…
4…
3…
2…
1..
The handle of the door starts shaking. Mom wanted to open the door. Jenny just sat there. After a minute, she quietly leaves. Jenny could hear her footsteps walk down the stairs.
Jenny sighs. Mom always did this. Everytime she went out and came back, mom would always check her stuff. Jenny didn't know that until she caught her mom snooping through her bag while she was in the washroom. She's kept her door locked ever since.
She sighs as she lies down on her bed and looks up at her ceiling. Nothing good was happening in her family. She sighs in frustration. She just wanted to run away from home. Like Jacob. She didn't like what her mom was doing. She hated the feeling of knowing and not being able to do anything about it.
She had asked Jeff and Jasper if she could tell dad. They advised her not to. It's better if he gets to know himself. He's almost about to find out anyway.
As for today, she didn't want to stay at home. She wanted to do something. But not at home. She felt bored.....
An idea popped up. She immediately sat up, excited. She snaps her fingers
“Of course! The old house!! I can go there today!!”
*Wait! I should take a bath first!!*
She rushes to the bathroom and first brushes her teeth. Then she takes a quick shower. With a towel wrapped around her, she enters her bedroom and immediately takes a pair of undergarments, an oversized purple t-shirt and shorts. She puts them on and then braids her hair.
She puts her phone, power bank, cable, headphones, diary, some snacks she had in her room, wallet and the current novel she was reading into her bag and walks down the stairs.
She sees mom sitting on the couch, still on the phone. She sighs. She didn't like it.
*GOSH! HOW LONG IS SHE GOING TO TALK TO HIM!?!?*
“Mom, I'm going out. I'll be back for dinner.”
“Okay.”
With that, Jenny walks out of the house. She walks to the old house. As reaches it, she sees a man walk out of it. More like a boy...she couldn't see him properly because of the distance but he looked familiar.
*Maybe it must have been some passerby. Nothing else.* She shrugs as she walks to the house.
She stops as she stares at the house. The right window was clean as usual. The other windows were planked. That was strange. She made a note to check that room.
She walks to the back door and enters the kitchen through it. She smiled. The kitchen made her happy, it was cute! It was fully white and there were pastel colours here and there. She thought about cooking with Jacob here. It would be so cute!
*Stop with your thoughts!!* She mentally slaps herself. She giggles as she makes her way to the living room. Everything was the same way she had seen the last time. She then walks to the hallway. She stops and blinks.
“How come I never noticed this door before?” She wonders out aloud. It was a double door. But it was barred shut. And it was dusty. Jenny coughed as she backed away. She'll have to open this door someday. She nods in determination as she makes her way to the stairs. It creaked as usual. She slowly goes up.
She stops as she looks at the first door to her right. This had to be the room with the clean window. She turns the doorknob. But no. It doesn't open.
Huh?
That's weird. Why didn't it open? Jenny tries again but it doesn't open. She steps back as she looks at the door. Can it be kicked open? It looks new and stronger than the other doors on the floor. Why? It made her want to open it. She sighs.
She'll have to carry a hammer the next time she comes here.
She moves on to the next door. Locked. She turns towards the three doors on the left. She tries each and every one of them. Locked. She groans in frustration.
“Why the heck is everything looked?! Ahh!!” She shouts, clearly frustrated. Her voice echoes throughout the hallway.
She stomps over to the stairs. She stares at it for a while. Did she remember seeing a third floor when she stood outside? She did not. Then what was up there? She wanted to find out and she had all the time. She looks at the time on her watch. It was 12:45. She had so much time. She smiles as she walks up the stairs. She sees a door at the top. She reaches it. She turns the knob. It opens.
*Finally!* She does a little victory dance as she opens the door in excitement.
She gasps as she sees what's on the other side.
“Oh my god...”
*********
YOU ARE READING
COCOLATE
General Fiction⚠WARNING!⚠ MAY CONTAIN SOME AMOUNT OF DEPRESSION AND SUICIDAL THOUGHTS. NOT THAT MUCH THOUGH. BUT IF YOU CAN EASILY GET TRIGGERED, PLEASE DON'T READ THIS BOOK. -------------- "Please don't leave me alone!" she clings on to her brother, who hugs he...
