Penhallow

V

Two years later

Gray POV

It was more than two years now since Jenzy died. Almost three years. I was driving my car back in our little Penhallow town. Bree beat me to it. She arrived there yesterday, just shy on me by one day. We are together now. It just happened- the two of us being together. One moment we were both grieving Jenzy's death and the next... we were dating. Like it is the most natural thing in the world. I'm thankful for Bree being beside me when Jenzy die. She is my salvation from Jenzy's death. No, this is not a rebound love. Jenzy will always be special to me and will forever occupy a part of my heart. But now, Bree is my present and my future.

Bree is very different from Jenzy. They are each other's' opposites, in all aspect. Jenzy was fire and sun while Bree is night and stars. Both beautiful in appearance, though in Bree's case, her beauty always goes unnoticed what with her thick-rimmed eyeglasses that hides her strikingly dark blue eyes and messy ponytail. Sometimes I had a feeling that she's doing it on purpose, to avoid attention. And she had this intimidating air on her that tells anyone to "keep off". She's not a nerd (but with her I.Q. maybe, yes?) but she's kind of reserved. Jenzy is all noise and bubbles. How they became each other's best friends I had no idea. Opposites do sticks together.

My love for Bree is way deeper and more mature than what I had for Jenzy. We are in our third year in college. We study in the same University about eighteen hours' drive from home. Me, as a law student and her, as medicine student. We have big dreams. We have an apartment just outside the university circle. We decided to study far away from town and only come home once in a while. We both wanted to escape some painful memories back in our town and we managed to live on. Nancy and Phin are still together and lives in a city just six hours drive from me and Bree. Phil is already working in some accounting company and Nancy is doing some fulltime modelling. They are both doing well and we still saw each other from time to time. They seldom return home like us and it was apparent that they too were avoiding some painful memories. It was our winter break and Bree and I decided to spend the time at home. Nancy and Phin are somewhere off the grid for a grand vacation. I still have some things to do and so I let Bree get there first.

When I arrived, it was the same old town. As I drove by, I saw the same boring plaza, the run-down post office and the local church Mom used to drag me by when was a kid. She still does whenever I'm home. And it was more than a year since my last visit. I went to my house first to say hello to my parents where my younger brother Blue nearly squeezed me to death. My dad is the same bulky man anyone would definitely want to avoid when they saw him on streets. We talked for a bit to catch up things and then I run upstairs to get some things for an overnight at Bree's house (my brother demanding it's unfair that I'm leaving as soon as I've arrived). She texted me earlier that I could stay with her, since her parents are leaving tonight to visit her grandmother.

I arrived at her house, a two story house with a huge garage, a small garden and a pool. Mrs. King let me in after giving me a mother's combo of hugs and kisses. I bring food with me (courtesy of my mom) and gave it to her. Mr. King is out of sight. I saw some bags in the living room packed to go. Bree, according to Mrs. King, went out to buy something and if I want I can wait in her room. I arrived early. I told her that I will be coming after dinner. It was only six in the evening. I directed myself upstairs since I've been a couple of times. The first thing I noticed when I entered her room is a branch of tree poking in her empty window. I shook my head thinking how careless she is. I reminded her about a hundred times already to be mindful of the security of her surroundings. After everything that happened, I learned that one can never be sure of his own safety. I walked toward the windows to close it and pushed back the perky wood outside. I remember this tree in her backyard. This tree is the one we named the "tree of sin" for it is perfect for sneaking out. She used it to sneak inside and out with Jenzy and Nancy while us boys, me and Phin, were waiting bellow ready to catch them in case they fell. I smiled to myself at the memories.

This is not my first time coming to her room. I've been here before back in high school and one time while in college. The room is a perfect mixture of mess and orderly. It is a large. Bree loves a large bedroom. Her room in our apartment is bigger than mine too. There is a large bookshelf in one corner filled with various book in all genre. She's a bona fide book addict. On the right corner sat her vanity table, just side by side with her study table- her laptop still blinking bright. Her bed is larger than life with gigantic pillows. It is a hard truth but I think she loves her pillows more than she loves me. She denied it of course but whenever we sleep together, I am always wondering whether I am sleeping with a pillow or with her. It is one of her perks- one that I hate. And of course, there's her bedside table. She can't live without one. There are also two couches spread in her room complimenting the cream carpet. She's one rich kid, yeah, what with having two parents as doctors.

I was about to lie down on her bed to wait when I noticed a couple small boxes scattered on the floor beside it. Some of it is covered with dust. Three boxes were left opened with its content cluttered on the floor. She must be checking some of her old things. Curiosity brought me to it and I leaned down to examine her things. It contained old stuffs- old notebooks, old diaries (which took me some effort to avoid reading), small figures, medals, tokens and other mementos. She must be throwing some of it for there were two pile of it on the side. I went to check the last two box still full with her stuff. I saw a sketch pad in the bottom of the second box and I picked it up for a look. I always knew that Bree is good in drawings as I saw some of her drawings before in school projects, they were all good. But I never knew her to keep a sketch pad. There are only a few sketches inside and they were all strikingly good and unusually detailed. There is a drawing of a teddy bear wearing a corporate tie with a 'Boss Teddy' written underneath, a muffin with black-n-white sprinkles, a single pair of stiletto with a small notch in the heels, a wired spectacles with a curious tilt to it, and a plain hair ribbon. I stared at the drawings for some time. It caught my attention. The way Bree drawn it so detailed is somewhat bothering me. There is something about these drawings that nags at me... some sixth sense. They were all vaguely familiar especially the spectacles. Where have I seen this before...? I flipped the pictures back and forth and that was when I noticed some numbers in the back of every drawing written on the lower right corner, exactly where I was holding it so I didn't notice it before. They were dates. I am unfamiliar with the first two dates but the last three dates struck something in my head. They were the dates that I couldn't forget. That I will never forget. They were dates that were etched in my mind forever. Impossible.

I immediately picked my phone to check something. I didn't want to be a police but I always wanted to be a lawyer and so I always go with my dad whenever he works for something to learn. I always kept files in my phone, files of various interesting cases and random facts. I scrolled down on my phone until I found what I was looking for.

Dates.

September 11... Loreen Harley... choked to death

October 1... Nathan Jenkins... stabbed in the heart

February 4... Rebecca Shaw... exsanguination

My heart flipped over. As I stared emptily down the mess, I noticed an old photograph sticking out from a white diary. I probably missed it earlier. I picked it up. It was a picture of two girls both smiling in an invisible camera. One of them I recognized as Bree and the other older one must be her sister Riley. The similarities between the two are unmistakeable. I'd seen Riley before when I was a kid but I never had the opportunity to talk to her. She had short black hair and her face was more angular than Bree. She was holding a cute looking teddy bear with a corporate tie...

Boss Teddy... Riley King... March 31, 2007...

She broke her neck when she accidentally fell down the stairs... or so I'd heard.

I checked the remaining date... January 25, 2009... 2009...

The sudden opening of the door startled me and I turned to see Bree standing frozen in the doorway. Some grocery stuff was scattered at her feet. Looking at her messy hair and hearing her shallow breathe, she must have hurried up here. Her eyes strayed down at the still open sketch pad in my lap and then at the photograph on the bed. I was sure I was holding it just seconds ago. She looked up and her eyes met mine. She knew.

Slowly, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breathe. When she opened it, they were frighteningly calm. She took a step toward me. She smiled.

Again my heart flipped over.