Transitions of a lost soul

(Chapter 28: Mind games....)

It was time to meet up with Chris, though I still felt uneasy and anxious to be alone with him. On top of all that, Liza's text completely threw me off my game. I couldn't worry about her at this moment, I just wanted to get this shit over with. I got to Washington Gardens 5 minutes past the meetup time...the moment I got out of my car the wind picked up and it felt ridiculously cold. I felt like that was a sign for me to not be here, especially alone...but I couldn't turn back at this point. It was dark and eerie, as if I was in a horror film.

My skin was covered in goosebumps but not from the weather, I was scared. I continued to walk through the trees hoping nothing would snatch me. There I saw him, he was standing against the bridge, looking out towards the moon. " Took you long enough to show up, for a minute there I thought you were going to be a no show." His voice sent chills down my spine all over again, but not in a good way. " I thought about not coming actually, but that wouldn't have helped anything now would it?" I said to him sarcastically. He chuckled at me..he knew I was right...He wouldn't even let me take another breath without trying to get me to speak to him again.

"But let's just skip the formalities, we both know why we're here." He turned around to face me, a sinister look on his face. "Aww you didn't want to take some time to catch up? That's unfortunate. I even have a gift to give you." He said to me. He took out a maroon box that had a black ribbon tied to it. I looked at it suspiciously as he proceeded to give it to me. " I don't want a gift, I want answers Chris." He paused, grabbed my arm and still put the box in my hand.

"Maybe your answer is in this gift, open it..for me." I took a deep breath out of frustration and unraveled the ribbon from the box. When I opened it, my skin went pale. It was a chunk of Liza's hair and her ring that I gave her for her 18th birthday that she never took off. I dropped it to the ground and backed away from him. " WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!?" Chris just stood there, with his hands in his pockets smiling.

"That night at the pier when you thought you felt a presence..you weren't hallucinating at all. Did you really think I wouldn't know? Did you really think I wasn't following your every move? Wasn't listening to every word you said to her? I told you the consequences if you talked." I felt sick to my stomach, I couldn't believe this was happening right now. " If you wanna know where she is...Let's just say she'll be taking an endless swim in the water, she loved to swim anyway didn't she?" I looked up at him, tears running down my face. " YOU FUCKING SICK TWISTED SON OF A BITCH!! I SHOULD KILL YOU MYSELF!!" I screamed at him. At this point I didn't care if I lost my life trying...I wanted him dead. I ran up and proceeded to punch him in the face, making him stumble.

He spits out blood from his mouth and starts to laugh. " You're a bold bitch for that, but you're brave." He then grabs me by my neck and slams me against the bridge. " Too bad that bravery is gonna cost you." His grip got tighter and my breathing slowed. I scratched and clawed trying to release his hold, but the more I struggled the stronger his grip got. I felt my life slowly slipping away until I remembered...I kept a pocket knife in my jeans and brought it with me.

I reached into my pocket and stabbed his side, His hand letting go of my neck. I fall to the ground, coughing violently and trying to catch my breath again. He runs after me and punches me in the stomach. I doubled over in pain as he grabbed my knife from me. " No more games Jarlene." He tried to stab me but I dodged fast enough from the swing. I kicked my leg between his legs and he dropped to the ground, grunting in agony. I grab my knife back and attempt to stab him but he grabs my hand midway.

We struggled against each other and he looked at me. " Give it up Jar, you are not strong enough." I paused and stared at him, " you're right, I'm not...I'm just a little smarter." Right there I headbutted him and within a second, I lodged the knife into his chest. I took a step back as I watched him struggle to breathe. He looked down and pulled out the knife from his chest. Blood gushed out and He looked up at me, blood flowing out of his mouth like water. In his last seconds of life, He whispered to me "Hmph...You did good." Chris then fell out and he was gone.

I immediately felt guilt as I looked at his corpse. I know I did the right thing, but I knew this wasn't the moral thing to do either. I fell to my knees and started to cry. The nightmare was finally over. But I lost my sister in the midst of all of it. Liza won't be able to see or speak to me ever again. I had to get out of here quickly...This was too much for me to handle. I grab the knife and put it back in my pocket. I ran back to my car, drove to the nearest payphone I could find and called the police. I gave a fake name and told them about a suspicious figure in the Gardens. Once they said they were on their way, I went home.