Black Butler: The Book of Her: Sirens Tell No Tales

A Friend's Call: Edited

"Found you...demoness."
———————————————————————————

Two weeks had passed since Janeice's run in with that gang of cats, and Janeice had almost put it entirely out of her mind. She continued with her daily routine—studying, working, and trying to sneak in some leisure time whenever possible.

This particular Friday had seemed promising, she only had one class on her schedule, but the class ended up being canceled due to an emergency. Either way, Janeice considered it a blessing as now she had the chance to do nothing! Janeice fully intended on vegetating and just existing; becoming an absolute blob for the remainder of the day.

However, it appears fate had other plans. Her phone chimed, surprising her, as she rarely received text messages or phone calls anymore, except from school colleagues. Janeice donned her glasses and saw that the message was from Jason, a good friend of hers within the same degree program.

They met during freshman year when he approached her. She spoke to him in sign language, fully expecting him to leave once he saw she was mute. But to her shock, he understood her and signed back! They've been as thick as thieves since that day.

He asked for her help urgently and mentioned that he couldn't ask anyone else due to the situation. Janeice, a bit confused, attempted to inquire for more details, but Jason insisted repeatedly that she come over. Her plans for a day of relaxation were dashed, but she couldn't help but be curious. What did Jason get himself into this time?

About an hour later, Janeice had made her way to Jason's house. Janiece had her usual hairstyle, but this time she was wearing her usual black leggings along with black converse, a clean white shirt and her favorite green and black overcoat. She knocked on the door, and he greeted her with a warm smile, gesturing for her to enter. Jason, with his deep-brown skin and dark coiled hair, seemed a bit stressed and tired, wearing a plain brown t-shirt, white sweatpants, and striped socks.

Janeice catiously entered his living room, standing somewhat awkwardly as she watched him pace back and forth. She tapped him on the shoulder and tilted her head, silently asking what was wrong.

Startled, Jason jumped a bit but quickly composed himself, offering a reassuring smile. "You'll see. Just give me one second. You're not gonna believe this."

Jason stepped back and called out, "Come on out, guys!"

No response. He repeated himself after a few seconds.

"Come out, please! Don't be shy! I brought a friend who might be able to help!"

Once again, silence filled the room.

Exasperated, Jason groaned and said, "Excuse me for a second, Janeice. These guys are a bit...difficult." Her curiosity is piqued. She took a seat on the living room couch. 'This should be interesting' she thought to herself.

Jason disappeared, dipping around the corner and down the hall. Janeice could hear some cursing and whispered screams, which heightened her concern. She knew he would be fine, but her worrying is starting to get the better of her. 'What's happening over there?' she wondered.

Eventually, Jason returned with fresh scratches on his arms and a massive cardboard box. Janeice's eyebrows comically shot up to her hairline in surprise once she heard the box rattling with hissing noises. She blinked at Jason, silently requesting an explanation.

Jason let out a sigh filled with grief. "Okay, so... You know that class we have with Mr. Davidson?" Janeice nodded. "Well, excuse my french, but he's been more of an ass lately. He's been piling on the homework and it's got me stressed out of my mind! So I decided sometime last week to skip class and go for a run in the woods, you know, to calm my nerves." So that's why Janeice hadn't seen him that one day. She was gonna text him about it but she ended up forgetting.

"When I was running, I was kind of lost in my thoughts but I didn't have my headphones on, so I was able to hear these incredibly loud, screeching noises. It sounded like a bunch of animals, so I went to investigate. And, lo and behold, this is what I found."

Jason went to open the box, and Janeice got a sinking feeling in her gut. Why is she nervous? Surely he wouldn't show her anything disturbing, right? Jason wasn't that type of guy. But despite knowing this, she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. She pushed down that growing feeling of dread in her stomach as Jason fully opened the box. Time seemed to slow down as Janeice is paralyzed with shock at what's in front of her.