Mine (Jenlisa)

twenty eight (finale).

Jennie's POV~

With a gasp, her eyes opened. I fell back, sobbing, as her lungs drew in ragged gasps of air. Her skin started to turn light pink, the color coming back to her lips.

"Lisa," I whispered, my hands holding her. The rope had left a mark around her neck, a deep red gouge. She coughed and rolled onto her side.

I waited for her to catch her breath. Her fingers were splayed out on the floor and I pulled back away from her. Now that she as back-

She was dangerous.

No.

She was a killer.

No.

What are you doing? Run. Run!

I shook my thoughts from my head. The muscles in my right arm ached and I realized that I had strained myself when I swung the knife into the bedpost. I didn't care. Nothing mattered except that she was alive.

Lisa pulled herself up, slouching against the bed. She closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath, then exhaled. I waited, scared, sitting on the floor.

Finally she opened her eyes. Her voice was scratchy, hollow. She could barely speak.

"Why did you come back?" she whispered.

My heart beat fast in my chest.

"I realized what you were doing. I knew you wouldn't let me go for any other reason. I figured out what you were going to do," she smiled, the motion making her wince in pain. She rubbed her neck with one hand.

"Kitten, that doesn't answer my question. Why did you come back?"

The real answer slipped from my tongue before I could stop it. "I love you."

She looked at me, her eyes softening.

"That's why I let you go," she mumbled. I nodded slowly, my heart swelling in my chest.

"Yes. A good weakness."

Her breath came back to her. She reached for the rope and took it up in her hand, turning it over and over.

"I was almost there," she whispered, "Almost dead."

The thought sent ice through my veins. Just thinking about her body hanging from the ceiling made me want to scream again. "Did you see anything?" I asked.

"Nothing to see," she said, tossing the rope off to the side, "I suppose now we simply have to live."

We.

The word was a fingernail plucking my nerves. Vibrating them. She coughed again. 

"What happens now kitten? Have you thought that far?" I hadn't thought that far, but apparently my subconscious had started to. The pieces clicked into place one by one as I thought about it.   

I moved over to where she was sitting against the bed and sat with her, shoulder to shoulder. The explanation came to my lips mechanically. I ticked off the points one after another. 

"I will tell everyone I had a panic attack. I ran away to be alone for awhile with my friend."

"A friend?"

"A secret friend, one I'd never told anybody about. You get away scot-free. And.."

"Yes?"

"And you will pay for me to go back to school in the fall."

"Oh?" her eyebrows raised.

"It's a fair trade."

"A trade? What do I get in return?"