Jules's P. O. V.
"Jules!Jules!Jules!"
"Yea!"
"You are doing it again, " Kally shook her head.
"Are you sure you're okay? You keep on spacing out?", she inquired, worried.
" The question is how are you still okay?", I retorted.
I saw him!
It was him!
I can't be mistaken.
It was the guy from seven years ago.
"Raymond was right. That man did deserve to be beaten. No! He deserves worse! He needs to go to jail! He-"
The tears began flowing out uncontrollably.
Kally put her laptop on the table and rushed to join me on the bed.
She held my hand.
"Don't cry. Be strong. I'm here."
"But he was right under my nose, watching my every step for 7 years. After what he did to me 7 years ago he is still not in jail. And what is worse is that I'm too scared to inform the police of his whereabouts. After he-"
"Don't worry, I'm here. You are alright. You will be fine. Just hold it in", she wrapped me in her warm embrace and patted my back as I sobbed in her arms.
" How will you understand? You've not been through what I have been through", I asked her.
She hugged me tighter and whispered in a low voice.
" I understand everything. I've been through worse than you've been. But I survived. I stayed strong for 10 years. So you should too."
That's what Kally said alright.
But at that time, I didn't know because I didn't hear a thing.
"What did you say?", I asked her dozing off.
" Nothing", she lied smiling.
_______________________
That night, I couldn't sleep.
As soon as I closed my eyes, scenes from 7 years ago resurfaced.
I remembered everything.
Even the things I didn't want to.
And that says a lot because I didn't want to remember anything.
The spooky dark room that smelled like gasoline and smoke.
The tinted windows that were cracked and looked like a baseball was sent through them.
The smell of rusted metal, and the sight of uncountable fagends.
The blood-stained doll on the wall that looked like it had been abandoned for years.
Other people were obviously there before me.
The room hadn't been cleaned for ages. It was dusty and suffocating. Everything was suffocating.
There were cobwebs everywhere. And everywhere cobwebs are, there are spiders. Pieces of broken furniture were scattered about. I was tied up to a one-legged chair with ropes and cables, waiting for my hero to come and rescue me. Whoever it was. I went on for five days without food or water.
But that was just by the way.
What haunted me most was the memory of that man.
The old man with the left metallic leg, dragging the smell of rusted metal wherever he went...
I shivered at the thought.
So, I spent the entire night trying to put pieces of the puzzle together whiles Kally hibernated on my bed.
At 5:00 am the monster behind me awoke from her slumber.
I began regretting everything immediately.
I regretted staying up till 5:00 am while Kally slept soundly.
I'm currently running on 4 hours of sleep, 5 cups of iced coffee and 2 cups of warm heated coffee.
"Hey, you're awake already."
"I never slept", I responded.
" Oh."
"Then what have you been doing?", she asked yawning and stretching.
I pushed my chair away for her to see the wall crammed with papers everywhere.
" This. I have been investigating."
"I can see that, what did you find?", she inquired.
" Okay listen. 7 years ago, I was the victim and Reed James Finger was supposedly, the culprit. He has been on the run ever since. And he's hiding in our high school, as a repeat student. But then that's what is weird".
Kally listened carefully.
"What's weird?", she asked.
" Great question. If my memory is not jagged, 7 years ago the man who did all that to me was an old man with rotten teeth, grey hair, and a metallic left leg-"
"So what you are saying is that since he's been on the run, everything about him may be fake. His appearance and even his name", Kally cut in.
Her voice became the voice of reason.
" Bob's your uncle! He's changed everything. That is why the police can't get to him. But that's not what is bothering me right now", I admitted.
"What is?"
"Raymond, and Jaz. What were they doing there? What is Raymond's connection with Reed?", I cleaned the sweat from the top of my nose, deep in thought.
" KALLY! JULES! Breakfast is ready!", my mom yelled from the kitchen.
I looked at my alarm clock.
"Kally we're late!"
"I'm using the restroom first!"
"No Kally, I am."
Kally is like family to my parents and me.
She started staying over a lot since we were seven.
One day she appeared at my house in the middle of the night looking as if she had gone to hell in a handcart.
She wasn't ready to speak and we gave up on asking.
We just welcomed her in.
Maybe she just had some problems with her family.
I was wrong!
Very wrong!
Her family was more crappy than I imagined.
But back then, I didn't know.
_________________________
Invitations to a pool party had gone around the whole school.
Invitations from Raymond and Jazlyn.
The invitation said :
Lake pool 🎉 🥳🥳
Address: 27 Lakers Street.
The house beside the lake.
Dress code: No dress code! But remember to bring your swimsuits.
Date: 20/01/2018.
NB: Everyone and everything is invited!
"Why are you guys hosting a pool party?", I asked when I had the chance.
" Just because...", Jaz shrugged.
"Just how rich is your family?", Kally also asked.
Raymond smiled at Kally.
" Does filthy rich count?"
_______________________
Hello, again guys,
What do you think will take place at the pool party?
Glossary: The expression, bob's your uncle', means either 'No problem', or 'The solution is simple.' In this chapter, this expression means, 'There you have it.'
Please vote and comment.
