a good girls guide to Guilt

ONE

Pippa fitz-amobi. The name followed her around. She was now 38 and living in the year 2039, that secret buried in her chest. Every now and then pip would run into someone in maine that recognized her from her hit podcast A good girls guide to murder, but other than that, it was hard to tell who she really was and she always denied it. She wasn't Pip anymore, she wasn't sarge.

Pip awoke one night with a start. She panted and looked around her room. Rory was sound asleep beside her, snoring slightly. She had this sinking feeling in her chest she was being watched. A feeling she knew very well. She shook the thought away and got up, the floor creaking a little bit. She walked into the washroom that connected to her bedroom and flicked the light on, shutting the door behind her quietly, trying not to wake Rory. She turned to face herself in the mirror. She walked closer to the mirror and  admired her worn out face, the beat down face no one knew anymore. "Jeez." She says, touching her face softly. All of a sudden she heard a bang from inside her room. She turns around and opens the door slowly and when she opens it, the light reveals a sound asleep Rory and the window open a little bit. She shakes herself and closes the door. When she looks back in the mirror it isn't the old pip. It was a young pip. Eighteen year old pip. Her face had no wrinkles in her skin and the scars were gone. gone. She looked closer and the image looked back at her. The reflection of her in the mirror opens her mouth and says something. Pip doesn't hear what the reflection says but she recognizes the voice. The reflection lifts its head a little and smiles. "Pip, come back. Fairview misses you." Andie? Or what pip had imagined the voice of the deceased Andie bell to sound like. She gagged a little as the image blurred into Andie, and then the reflection of Andie spoke, but in a different voice than her own. "What's wrong Pippa? Scared?" Pip falls back as Stanley Forbes speaks instead of Andie, she tries to scream but it won't come out. It floats away. The image spreads into Stanley's pale face. "Pip. What's the matter? I wasn't supposed to die." Sal Singh? He was bound to come. He looks so young and drowning at the same time. Pippa picks herself up off the cold concrete ground. Who was next? She had too be dreaming. Dreaming, that's it. Just breath. The mirror disappears leaving pip in a black room. She opens her eyes to find herself in Jason bells garage again. She's tied with duck tape. She hears footsteps coming towards her. "Please, no." She sobs. She leans back falling into someone's arms, a familiar grasp on her. Lights shine on her and that person. She opens her eyes slowly too see Ravi. Young, handsome, foreboding Ravi. "Pip. Fairview misses the old you. You need to visit. Andie. Stanley. Sal, oh. And me." He puts her down and grabs her hands in his own and turns her around. She smiles slightly and her chest warms up. "No. Ravi. I'm happy here."
"With Rory. The geek who calls you names like sweet cheeks? No, no!" He yells. He lets go of pip and frowns. She places her hand on his cheek. "What's wrong?" She asks.
"Well, what about me and you? It just dropped one day. After..." Her eyes close slowly. "Don't."
"Then just come back."
"I can't! You know I can't!" Tears deep out her eyes. Ravi starts fading. "But.." he starts. "No buts." She cuts him off. "Sarge." He turns into sandy dust as he says that. "RAVI!!!!!!!! " Her screams turn into nothingness. Only sad sounds. Familer footsteps are behind her. "Jason?" She yelps. He laughs. "So, pip. When are you coming back?" She falls on her knees and wakes up in her bed. She hears birds chirping outside her window. Pip shivers. It sure was cold in there.