HOW YOU LIKE THAT | JENLISA

Chapter 19

Jennie

I brushed off all those thoughts and walked out of the kitchen. I'd studied the route that the maids usually took when they went into their rooms in a connected outer building that was also a part of the mansion. I successfully found the stairs that I was looking for and I made sure that no one was following me before going forward.

Once I made it outside into the courtyard, I made a run towards the woods. Now I only hoped that I could find a road that led me to the outside parameters of the Manoban's property. I used my phone's flashlight to navigate my way through the thick forest.

And I was in for another surprise.

I walked for about forty minutes, ignoring the eerie sounds coming from deep inside the forest. My legs had turned heavy like lead, but I still ignored the pain and kept going and when I reached the clearing, I couldn't stop the disappointment flooding through my emotions.

A lake surrounded the property, and a small villa stood right beside it. I couldn't stop cursing myself for the sheer bad luck that kept weighing me down. There was more vegetation on the other side of the lake. Two small boats and a yacht stood near the pier. The boats seemed to be tied loosely with thick ropes.

I had to untangle one of them if I wanted to use one. It would be difficult for me to row the boats alone using the oars, but I didn't have any other choice. Sure, I could go back to the mansion and walk to the main gates which would have led me to the bus station directly, but as Nichkhun had already told me before, no one leaves the Manoban property without his permission so there was a chance the guards could stop me, and I couldn't risk that.

I tossed my bag on the ground and began working on the rope tied to the dock when I heard a faint crunching sound behind me, like the snapping sound of a twig. I spun around quickly, afraid that I was caught, or worse, get attacked by a wild animal.

Lisa was standing a few feet away from me.

I wondered if she was a figment of my imagination, but that wasn't the case. She was really standing here before me, wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants with her dishevelled, and wavy hair.

"What are you doing here, Lisa?" I asked brusquely.

She stared at me with those innocent whiskey eyes.

"Did you follow me the entire way from the mansion?" I tried again. "You're not supposed to be here. I put you to bed."

Lisa liked to wander around the mansion at night, and I'd purposely made sure that she'd gone to bed and waited for an hour before I'd escaped, but I never thought that she would follow me out of the mansion, that meant she'd been carefully tracing my steps until now.

"Jen..." She said in a soft voice.

I trudged back to where she was standing. Lisa was tall compared to my height. She could flick my forehead playfully, and I'd likely go rolling into the water.

I reached out and took her large hands into mine.

"Don't leave me." she whispered, and it completely broke me down, while listening to her plead.

She knew that I was leaving for good and she'd followed.

"Please, Jen..." her hands wrapped around my waist and she tugged me against her. I pulled away to look at her, and in the moonlight, her eyes looked dark. "Lisa, I can't stay here, sweetie, I need to go or someone will..." I swallowed, but I willed the words to come out. "Or someone will kill me too, just like Diana and Nancy. You'll find another caretaker."

"You..." She said accusingly, while shaking her head vigorously. "I want you."

The intensity in her eyes and the deepness in her voice would have suggested something else entirely. Listening to her asking me to stay, I felt this alien feeling brewing inside me. Nobody had needed me before. I felt guilty doing this; running away without letting her know when I knew that as the days had passed, Lisa had become attached to me and I don't mean that in any romantic way, she enjoyed being where I was, and she would follow me around the house and I didn't care as long as she wasn't harming me in any way. She would watch me shyly throughout our meals, let me read books to her, take walks together, and that told me she enjoyed my company immensely as a friend, someone who could understand her more than anyone else in her family could, so the thought of leaving her behind was a tough decision, but it was that or get myself killed, sooner or later.

I cupped her jaw and felt her grip tightening around my waist as her fingers dug into the fabric of my top, clinging on to me desperately. "I'll get help from the authorities outside and I'll tell someone about you, but I can't stay here in the mansion, Lisa."

"I..." She started saying, and the words were clogged up in her throat like she couldn't remember what she wanted to say. "I..."

"You what, sweetie?"

"I'll go with you." She said finally.

I shook my head. "This is your family and your home. You can't come with me."

"Noooooooo..." She screamed, and I jumped back a little. "I'll go with you!"

Think Jen, think quickly. How could I possibly take her with me? If Lisa tagged along, Nichkhun would call the cops and there would be a manhunt to find me. Knowing how smart Nichkhun was, he might tell the authorities that I'd kidnapped his sister. Either way, the man could twist the story in a way that he saw fit.

Lisa couldn't come with me. End of story. That also meant that I couldn't leave today.

"Let's head back to the house." I suggested, and when she didn't move from the spot, I had to reassure her. "I won't go anywhere."

She seemed content on hearing that. I picked up my duffel bag and headed back towards the forest. Lisa walked closely behind me. I guess she didn't trust me not to flee from her, so she kept her gaze trailed on me.

The dark sky was being blanketed with grey clouds as they churned closer, and the sound of thunder resonated within the forest. It was a sign of the impending rainstorm. I picked up speed and jogged ahead through the muddy trail that my shoe prints had left behind, so it was easier for me to know where I was going. Until...

I dropped to the ground and was screaming at the top of my lungs at the pain that surged through my left leg. Sobbing loudly, I looked down and saw that my leg was caught in a claw trap, with the sharp edges sinking into my skin. Lisa was on her knees beside me, frantically trying to open the trap with her bare hands, but it made the pain so much worse.

From a distance, I heard the familiar voice moving closer. Nichkhun walked towards us, while carrying a hunting rifle, and his expression was downright evil.