Dead Girl's Fate (discontinued)

Chapter 14

This time, Isaac took my hand without hesitation when we entered the house. Gianna was sitting on the couch.

"Where's Jess?" I asked her.

"Upstairs."

After our three word conversation, Jess came down the stairs and into view, as if she heard me ask where she was. Every time I looked at her, I was still amazed by how young she looked compared to me, and how her hair never seems to get longer and her clothes never change. It slightly frightened me.

Jess smiled. "You called?"

"We got one of the pages translated," Isaac said. I was kind of taken back by his voice, since last time he saw them the look of shock never left his face.

Gianna lifted her head when she heard what Isaac said. She was so shy for someone with remarkable ghostly powers.

"Well?" Jess asked, obviously impatient. I could see it made her nervous, but I can't blame her for being that way. I would be nervous if I knew I might be banished from the earth forever.

I explained what the page meant to Jess and Gi, and Isaac chipped in every once and a while to add something I missed. We explained what the phrases meant, and I asked a few questions.

"Do you know who...you know...." I asked both of them, bowing my head. Asking who killed my best friend was not something I asked everyday.

"I'm not sure," Jess said, "It was a guy, and he had dark hair. It was back in New Jersey, where you-we- used to live.  I remember seeing tables that looked kind of like the ones in that bowling alley we used to go to for our birthdays, the one that shut down...And it was a knife," she cringed at the last part, probably remembering the pain.

Then Gianna spoke. "I know it was my neighbors, for me. That's why they ran. My dad made money by selling drugs. He was an addict, so obviously the house began to look like this," she gestured to her old, rotting house, "And our neighbors bought off of my dad all the time. But the cops caught him and arrested him, threw him in rehab. The neighbors weren't happy, so they came here, angry at him, not knowing he was put in prison, and they brought a gun. When they found me, they shot me instead. Guess they thought it would hurt him more, but when he came back, and there was no trace of me besides the blood on my bedroom floor, he simply cleaned it up and acted like I never existed."

The thought of living in a house where drug addicts once were made me shiver. Gross.

"Don't worry," Gianna said, "They cleaned out the whole house, and they never came back after they shot me." I gave her a glare for reading my mind, but thanked her for comforting me. She heard my thought and smiled.

"What about your mom?" I asked, my voice a soft whisper.

"Hah," she laughed, "She got out of here when she got the chance. Never bothered to bring me with her." Gianna then continued to point to her chest, right where her heart is. "That's where they shot me."

"I'm sorry," was all I could say.

"What about you?" Isaac asked to Jess.

"Me? Impaled," she shrugged it off as if she were talking about a lighter subject. It made me wince. "The guy kept me for the longest time, like I said, dark hair, and it was long, too. He got annoyed when I wouldn't do anything he asked of me, and he lost his temper," her voice dropped to a whisper, "It was terrifying."

I couldn't understand how these two talked so casually about their murders. I should be totally freaked out. Why am I not?

"Oh!" Jess piped up, "He also sounded young, like he'd be your age now," she pointed to me. I noticed how she didn't say "our".

"We should go," Isaac said, "your mom could wake up soon." I nodded my head in agreement, but I didn't leave just yet.

"I can get back to New Jersey," I stated, "I can try to look for that guy."

"How, Cara? You're in school right now, and your parents won't let you go alone!" Jess said. Isaac agreed with her.

"Look, I think if I can put on a really good act about missing home and wanting to see my old friends, my mom will give in. She's a sucker for that stuff."

"I was your only friend in New Jersey," Jess said jokingly. Isaac laughed, and I hit him on the chest with my free hand.

"Let me try?" I asked. They agreed, but it didn't matter anyway, because I would've done it without their approval.

Isaac and I left shortly after, the book in my right hand, Isaac's hand intertwined with my left. It comforted me, even though it was a small gesture. There was a fear building up inside of me, a fear that I might possibly have to re-kill my best friend. The thought made me sound insane, but it was the truth. What if I couldn't do it? I probably couldn't even do it to Gianna. Why would I? They did nothing wrong. This whole "balance of nature" thing is quite idiotic if you asked me. If one of them wasn't supposed to die, then why did they? The path of the future changes a lot, but nothing of this was making sense to me. The only thing I knew was that I had to help Jess. I felt an urge to protect her at all costs, even though she could defend herself better than I could. I just got her back, will I be able to let her go again...forever?

Isaac said goodbye to me and headed home. I trudged up to my room, tired and weary. When I got there, I saw my picture box leaning up on my wall, and a note stuck out of the top. I wandered over to it and found my pictures all back in there, much more neatly than I had them. Hesitantly, I picked up the note, unfolded it, and scanned it over.

Cara,

I'm really sorry. I saw your pictures sitting here, and I couldn't help myself. They're all so beautiful. I was looking through them while you were away at school, and when I heard you walk through the front door, I panicked. I took them back to my house with me because they were just so amazing, I didn't want to stop looking at them. You are an amazing photographer. I hope your life was as fun and normal as it looked in the pictures. I guess it isn't so normal now, huh? That's probably my fault. I'm sorry, again. I hope you can forgive me. I understand if you don't want to help or talk to me anymore. I'm sorry.

P.S- I'm not sure who drew this, though.- there was the picture of Jess and I with her face crossed out- Jess might've gotten a hold of it. She can get really upset sometimes and do some crazy things. She tries to keep it cool when you come around. 

Stay safe.

-Gi