Faithless

Chapter 16

 I kept running, likely longer than I had to, until I ended up back near Abigail's house. Standing on the sidewalk in front of her house, I stopped to catch my breath. Krieth returned to his place on my shoulder, a judgemental look in his eyes.

"Look how well that went."

"Thanks, want to say anything else?"

He was silent for a moment before asking, "What's the point of smoking that stuff?"

I sighed. "You're kidding."

"I'm not."

"Well, normal people smoke it to get high. It gives euphoric feelings. For some reason it doesn't work on me anymore; I just like the way the smoke feels."

Before Krieth could answer, my name was called from behind. "Hey you! Jay!" I whirled around, to see Abigail standing in her open doorway, a cigarette pinched between her fingers. "Who the hell are you talking to?!"

I stood there for a moment, completely dumbfounded. I hadn't seen her since November, when I dropped off Daisy, which was due to the fact that Dahlia no longer trusted me to take my younger sister places. It wasn't like I cared, but it was strange to me that I'd ended up here again. I hadn't even been paying attention to where I was running.

"I ... I uhh..."

She sighed. "Save it! Come inside!"

"What—?"

"Come on! Before I change my mind!"

With a sigh, I walked up to her front porch. "I should really be getting home, Abigail—"

"Jesus Christ, kid, you look like you haven't slept in days. Look, if you have somewhere to be, I'll tell your mother it's my fault. Come inside."

As I stepped inside, she shut the door behind me and put her cigarette out an ashtray sitting on a hallway table. I looked around slowly, wondering if anyone else was home, judging by how quiet the house was.

"Don't just stand there," she said, making me jump. "Take off your jacket. You can hang it up on that rack next to you. Oh, and if you're wondering, Steve took Karmen ice skating out in the city today."

"Oh, alright." I took off my jacket and hung it on one of the hooks against the wall. I followed her to the living room, where she slumped down on one of the couches and gestured for me to sit next to her. Slowly, I took a seat beside her and held my hands together. "So... why am I here?"

Abigail let out a long sigh, pulling a hand through her loose hair. "I've been wanting to talk to you for a while, ever since I heard about what happened to your classmates. I probably should have done this sooner."

I tilted my head slightly. "What exactly did you want to talk to me about?" The only times in the past that she'd ever wanted to talk to me was just to scold me about how I treated my mother and sister. Which was justified. I never thought she'd ever think of me in any other way.

"Are you doing alright?"

I was taken aback by this question. "Since when did you care?" The words were out of my mouth before I realized it and I immediately regretted it when I saw her reaction.

She frowned. "'Since when did I care?' Jay, I've always cared about you and your family. I'd thought you would know that. Guess not." She slouched into her couch and looked up at the ceiling. "Just bad luck, I suppose."

"What do you mean, 'bad luck'?"

"The town I grew up in. Similar things happened like this to kids at my own high school. Horrific murders. Done by a serial killer." Abigail stuck another cigarette in between her lips and lit it. "I'm sure you've heard about it."