The Ninth: Sequel

Part 1. Eclipse

December 20, 2021.

"Hello.
I'm Dana Jones. I'm 21 years old.
I work in the office as a local newspaper editor. And today, I get up in the morning and go to work. But I can hardly be there. Alone. Uncontrolled. Heartbroken. Trapped in pain... Now, it's me. And now, I'm 21 years old forever. I don't know what will happen when I come to the office and see my friend there, maybe we will talk, or maybe I'll have the desire to kill her, because now this is my nature. Instead of words, I hear your heartbeats. It's crazy. My boyfriend left me, he is no longer mine - subjected to powerful Darla's compulsion, he is with Mary Louise now. With the one who always wanted to get him. I'm hurt. But I don't want to express pain through cruelty, I have to pull myself together. I will be ruled by hatred for all living things, but I am bigger than that. Yes. Definitely bigger than that..."

At this point, shutting down the laptop, Dana stood up and went to the mirror.
"What have you become. Pale, black eyes... A nightmare."

She applied some mascara on, put on her jacket and went to work.

The sun was not as warm as it had been a month ago. The frosty days were creeping closer and closer. The air smelled of Christmas, and Christmas trees were already sparkling everywhere in Endhill. West-end park looked absolutely shabby: nothing but branches and a very thin layer of snow.
Dana got into the bus that arrived, sat down at the rearmost seat by the window and stuck the headphones in her ears to abstract herself, but the smell of blood around overshadowed her thoughts and mind. It was hard to focus on anything. But she had to be patient and learn to get used to it...

- - - - -

In the office, Dana was met by her friend Bella - they even looked somewhat alike. Always in a good mood, seeing Dana after a certain time of absence, Bella rushed to meet her.

"Look who's back! Oh my god! I can't believe my eyes. Dana! You're with us again, where on Earth have you been?! We thought something bad happened to you!"

They hugged each other and Dana felt really bad for a while: there was a huge, irresistible desire to bite right into her neck, but no. It's forbidden.

"Oh... what's going on? Are you feeling bad? Oh, you're so cold... Is winter really around the corner?" Bella looked at Dana.

"No, it's just... it's just that everything is so unexpected, the... excitement of returning," Dana made it a joke. "And it really does smell like Christmas outside, it was below thirty degrees today when I woke up. Everything is covered in frost."

"Oh. Do you wear lenses now? Such a cool color though. Poor eyesight?"

Dana looked at Bella. She didn't want to lie at all.

"Yeah, sort of. That constant work at the laptop and all that, you know. I decided to choose something to match the color of my hair."

"And it looks creepy and cool at the same time!" Bella laughed in response. "Well, so, let's go work? I'm certainly not thrilled that I've been working for both of us all this time, but I'm very glad that you're alive and well and back with us."

"Thank you so much for everything, Bells. Of course, let's go," Dana smiled back.

There wasn't much work in the office that day, and from time to time Dana was busy with anything but the actual work. Bella was buzzing incessantly.

"It's hot in here today," she took her sweater off, "We should go ask our security guard Kevin to open the window. The sash is so heavy, it's definitely tough for me or for you. Who even invented such stupid windows? We pester him a lot with this, I bet."

"No, we shouldn't bother Kevin. We can handle it ourselves. I'm gonna open it now."

"You're so funny! And how, pray tell, can you pull this weight down yourself so that it opens? Only a man can do it. A really strong one. That's exactly Kevin's description."