KILL THIS LOVE | JENLISA

Chapter 150

Jennie

I nodded, motioning for Mino to stand back behind me as I spun around. The second my fingertips grazed the dust covered door handle, I felt my stomach twist into knots. Reminding myself to breathe again, I finally twisted it open, letting the door flow ajar. I couldn't tell whether the door having not been locked was a good thing or a bad one.

With wary steps, we entered the threshold. It was as dark as a cave, the only light source being the sheer moonlight penetrating the dirty windows, and the stars strewn all around it. Mino suddenly yelped as I accidentally stepped on his foot, "Sorry." I mumbled quickly, earning a groan from him as he begrudgingly switched his phone's flashlight on.

The small beam of light illuminated the hallway from where we stood, there was what appeared to be a kitchen on their left, a row of doors on the right; and at the end of the hallway, a flight of stairs. Swallowing the inkling of foreboding, I advanced towards the first door, Mino pinned behind me. We exchanged a single glance, before proceeding to open the door.

Much of its contents were shrouded with plain white sheets. Mino waved his phone around, drawing light to a huge structure, which we could only presume was a king sized bed under the covers. My brows furrowed in confusion as I spotted a line-up of completely empty photo frames on the wall. I'd witnessed stranger things by now, but it all just simply felt a little too eerie. I walked over to where Mino was, by the big window adjacent to the bed. A chill travelled all the way down to my knees as I realized the window overlooked the entirety of the front yard; anyone in the house could have seen us coming in.

"Come on." I whispered, gingerly walking out of the room, onto the next one. As I wrapped my palms around the door knob to twist it open, a frown came over my lips as the thing refused to budge. "It's locked." I mused, strengthening my hold on the knife.

"Great, let's get out of here." Mino chirped sardonically.

My gaze locked on the last room in the row, halted on the chipping tawny paint on the door. For a second there, I froze. What if Lisa or Lalisa or whoever that crazy serial killer was, was waiting for me right behind that door? This time, she'd kill me. And Mino, who I had dragged into this mess. In less than twenty four hours, we were all supposed to be on a plane, out of this hell hole for good. Was this worth bargaining with my life and Mino's? But I was so close.

Heaving a deep exhale, I straightened my shoulders, "The last room, and then we're out of here." I didn't have to look at Mino to see the look of apprehension that graced his pale face. But it was as if I was blinded by my resolve, that I chose to ignore it and made my way over to the door against my best instincts. With my breath held, I rotated the knob, only releasing the air as the lock came undone with a faint click of metal.

Gently placing my fingertips on the wooden surface, I pushed it open. We stepped inside vigilantly, standing still as we took in everything. Unlike the other room, none of the furniture in here was sheathed, on full display instead for my eyes. The first thing I saw were the two twin sized beds against the wall. Intrigued, I strolled right over to it, while Mino remained in the periphery of the room.

The sheets had all collected dust and cobwebs I noted. On the nightstand between the two small beds, I once again came across empty photo stands. Chalking it up to not enough evidence, I was about to walkout of the room, almost brushing off the crumpled piece of paper that peeked out from behind the frames, concealed by the big lamp. Almost.

It struck me as odd, so I delicately clutched it, bringing it closer to my face, unfolding the decaying paper to reveal a rough drawing. Focusing the light from my own phone on the surface, it struck me as something a child undoubtedly once made along time ago with wax crayons.

Titling my head to the side, I let my eyes run over it. Two stick figures of the same size stood holding hands, labelled Mom and Dad in shaky handwriting. Right next to the two, a stick figure quite smaller than the previous ones, Lalisa was written above the figure's circle shaped head.

My forehead scrunched up in confusion as my eyes landed on a fourth and final figure beside the one named Lalisa, much smaller than the latter. Me, it simply said.

Perplexed, I went to call for Mino when my irises slipped to the bottom of the page.

Liam, the space was signed in rudimentary alphabets.