Located deep within the depressing city of Flint Michigan, inside one of the many skyrise buildings was a familiar face of Jack’s burdened past. Currently, this unwanted burden was looking out the giant window overlooking some buildings and skyscrapers. They had a grimace, their hands behind their back, they were troubled. It’s Dr. Cato, who’s feeling quite vexed by the entire situations that have unfolded in the past weeks. His partner Mathew is also present, both men in the office, yet he had a smile on his face. Dr. Cato let out a sigh and turned round, looking at his giant lumberjacked friend who’s sitting on his comfy leather chair.

“Mathew, what’s with the smile?” Dr. Cato asked, turning back to his original sighting.

Mathew yawned and laid back on the chair. “Well it’s because our plans are set in motion my friend.”

“How so?” Dr. Cato replied, squinting in worry.

“Um, hello? You know it better than I do, genius. First, tricking the public, Second, manipulating the media, lastly, keeping an eye on that no good bastard of a kid.” Mathew laughed and grabbed the bottle of whiskey placed in front of him. “It almost feels too good to be true, haha.”

Mathew got up from the chair and walked over to Dr. Cato with the bottle of whiskey in his hand. He stood next to his good friend, staring out the window as he drank the bottle with a huge smile on his face. He burps, making Dr. Cato twitch an eye. Mathew chuckles as he continues staring into the city of Flint and then seeing the city of Detroit out in the distance.

"Who would’ve thought those morons would walk out just like that! From the hole we intentionally made! What a bunch of clowns."

“Don’t you mean you did, Mathew?”

Mathew cackles, “Right! And they fell for it, haha!”

Dr. Cato shook his head and walked away to his desk, sitting down on his chair. Mathew stopped his laughter and cleared his throat, turning around to look at his good friend. Dr. Cato leaned on the chair and stared at the ceiling, and deeply sighed. He brought his attention forward and saw the photo frame of his old best friend, which was Angela’s father who was standing next to his daughter. The very girl who he swore to protect, cleanse, and keep hidden from the world. Dr. Cato grabbed the photo frame and stared at it, clenching his jaw.

Dr. Cato dragged one of his hands on his face. "Yeah… I need to save her, before it's too late."

Mathew sighs, walking over to Dr. Cato. "I know buddy I know, to think that girl caused all that destruction? What made her kill all those people and dissolve their corpses? It's-It's Madness!"

Dr. Cato sets the photo down. "You mean apparition right? Yeah, she's a horrible thing… isn't she?"

Mathew growls.

Dr. Cato looked up to the ceiling again. “But why though? I don't have enough Intel knowledge about that entire situation, only minor details."

"What are those details then?" Mathew asked.

"The details I've gotten so far is that everything went downhill two years ago near the outskirts of Flint, but the rest is still a mystery. Ah! Mathew, how could we have screwed up this much, huh?"

Mathew calmly sets the bottle down on the table and pats Dr. Cato's back. "You worry too much my friend, no matter her strength!" He takes the cross out with a smile, "She'll never harm us. So long as God's on our side."

Dr. Cato looks at Mathew, worriness was smeared across his face. "But you still lost against those two with this so-called ‘Power!’ If she's really gotten strong enough to kill all those people and make towns vanish within darkness—who knows how powerful it's gotten."

Mathew puts the cross away, "Not to worry! I've called some specialists to handle Jack, once we finally have our full plan in motion."

“Are you sure? How do you plan to subdue that mentally ill freak?”

Mathew pulls his phone out, starting to scroll through it. “I’m hiring an old mentor, along with specialists who know how to handle demonic spirits like her.”

Dr. Cato cringes. “What the hell are you talking about? Wait, hold up… don’t tell me you don’t actually mean what I think you mean?!”

Mathew smiles. “Oh yeah, I’m talking about those types of people, since we know stuff like that exists, there’s no doubt they’ll handle her better than we can.” Mathew walks away then out of the office to make his call.

Dr. Cato sighs deeply one last time. “What a mess this whole thing is, but we don’t have a choice, do we?” He grabs the photo again and stares at it. “I promise… I’ll free your daughter from that—Demon! But we have to get through you Jack, you disgustingly ill murderer.” He sets the photo back down and relaxes again, this time by closing his eyes.

I have to save her, not just for the safety of society, but for her own sake. Angela, I will save you…

As Dr. Cato's eyes were shut, thinking in closed darkness, he felt some weird cold breeze blowing across his face. Almost as if he were outside? He shivers and wonders if his staff turned his ac higher. Dr. Cato opens his eyes and finds himself in the middle of nowhere, which makes him gasp. There were endless miles of sand and the skies were as orange and faint as halloween.

“Wh-What’s the meaning of this?!” Dr. Cato shouted, covering his face from the cold dusty winds blowing at him.

Sand and dirt stained his clothes and dust was grazing his eyes. Dr. Cato wasn’t sure what was going on. He looks around and gently lowers his arms, waiting to see what will happen next. The winds blew stronger, which made him cover his face again but in front of him, in the midst of an upcoming sandstorm, he saw the outline of a person approaching his direction. Dr. Cato waited and saw the shadowy figure within the wall of dust and sand slowly come closer in his direction.

“Who’s-Who’s out there?! Hello!” Dr. Cato gently gulps out of nervousness and patiently awaits their arrival.

The individual in question, the closer they got, the more of their outline was shown to the doctor, made him realise that it was a woman coming towards him. She calmly walked through the slippery sands with ease, her hands collapsed to her waist, this woman had a look of sadness on her face.

Dr. Cato wondered what she wanted, and questioned if this was another spirit, like the girl in white. “Whatever you are, I hope you’re not here to bring us harm…”

Rose petals flew across her feet, drifting towards Dr. Cato as he waited in suspense. The skies above haven’t changed but the sand began hardening to that of solid stone, which trapped Dr. Cato. The doctor gasps and grabs his legs, feeling their blood flow slowly dwindle. She finally stops a couple feet from Dr. Cato, exposing herself to him and leaving him jaw dropped. Dr. Cato trembled in fear whilst staring into her frozen lakes like that of Mars she called eyes. She had an astounding red gothic dress which resembled romance, her height was taller than most average women, and beneath her hood, the doctor saw her lavous black hair.

She drops her hands and slowly blinks with ease. “Hello Mr. Cato, how are you this lovely evening?”

Dr. Cato nervously clears his throat. She-She knows my name? But how?

The doctor stood straight and balled a fist. “I’m… fine.”

She didn’t respond with anything, only stood her ground amongst the dusty storm. The doctor watched and waited. A minute passed and nothing, another went by and still nothing. Five minutes had gone by and the only thing moving was the doctor's patience, growing thinner by the second. After another minute, she moved, but by only taking a step closer. Dr. Cato balled his other fist, feeling annoyed by this strange being. And another two flew by faster than he could blink, and the next thing Dr. Cato knew that he was feeling weaker.

What’s happening to me? Dr. Cato thought.

He brought up a fist and saw his skin wrinkly and spotty. Dr. Cato gasped and felt his breath shortened. His knees felt ready to give out and once he did look down he saw that they were wobbly and ready to snap forward due to old age.

“Wh-What have you done to me!” Dr. Cato shouted, realising what had occurred.

The woman in red walked closer and stopped inches from him, watching him age like milk in front of her very eyes. “Now that you’re more vulnerable, I can tell you this—”

Her teal eyes glowed red, and everything came to a halt.”

“I’m sad, upset that someone like you was entrusted with something so important by someone close to Angela. The fact her father entrusted his promise onto you and that big idiot who's done nothing but shatter that importance and bring chaos to the world that God created.”

Dr. Cato coughed and ground his teeth. “You know Angela? But how, how could this be! And the promise between her father and I is between us! Spirit, don’t you dare say it’s my fault.”

The woman in red blinked and in doing so transformed the entire area into a vass open grassy field. “I’m well aware of it, because I’m the one who gave it to her father.”

Dr. Cato loudly gasped and collapsed to his knees. “Wh-What do you mean?! You-You’re the one who—!” The doctor was on all fours, shutting his old crusty eyes. “How could this be… who and what are you?!”

The woman in red glared into the sky, transforming it into her current emotions, that being blood red. “That’s not the only thing I’m upset about. The other being that Jack has reunited with that girl. So much destruction, so much life has been taken away by the likes of them; all because of their selfish attitudes.”

“Wait… so it’s true? They’ve reunited, but how do you know all this, why are you telling me all this!”

The woman in red sighed. “How could he forgive her even after she’s taken his life… I don’t understand, none of this makes sense.”

Dr. Cato’s breathing heavily and his hair was falling off. “Huh?! She even killed him? Wh-what? But how’s he still alive!”

“She revived him out of her own doing, after she did so, she forced her way back inside him the moment she sucked all her doings within his corpse, leaving no traces of her existence.”

Dr. Cato can’t believe any of this, let alone this experience. His scientific mind was used to complexities, but nothing like this so far.

“So what you’re saying is all those people, the people she’s killed, they’re inside Jack now?”

She slowly nods, and Dr. Cato wheezes but not out of amusement but in broken horror. The woman in red stayed quiet as the doctor felt his life fading away while he reflected. He’s shaking now, but more from anger and fear than anything else. Hearing what the woman had told him about the girl made him feel more motivated to get rid of the being even without Angela. He knew she was horrible but he had no clue she was this monstrosus.

The woman in red broke the silence around them by letting out an angered moan. “But you can blame Jack for angering her, two years ago he forced her out of him, causing her to go mad and destroy innocence.”

Dr. Cato opened his crusty eyes in anger while his arms trembled to look up at the strange spirit. “But even then… I-I can’t be mad at his actions. He wouldn’t have known she would do such a terrible thing, I just can’t blame the kid for that, even if he’s mentally ill!”

Dr. Cato’s voice started draining and his skin was turning brittle. He stands back up with his bony fists clenched. The woman in red watched the old man in front of her nearing his end as the last strands of his hair fell off.

Dr. Cato let out a nasty cough. “I’m angry at him of course, but I don’t want to kill the kid, even after what happened three years ago. What I am angry about is that whatever you are, whoever you are—the mere fact that you’re aware of everything, even things only my old dead friend and I knew about… and you being the initiator of that promise I! swore to vow…”

Dr. Cato growled and his teeth were falling off individually from his intense grinding.

“Means you’re just watching from the sides as if this were some show.”

The woman in red frowned and relaxed her arms to her sides.

Dr. Cato’s teeth were almost gone, and his skin started showing signs of decay. “Spirit, instead of watching, why didn’t you stop her from doing such wickedness and stop Jack from returning to her if you were aware of the outcomes?!”

The woman in red raised a brow and thought peacefully for a moment as the doctor fell back to his knees and coughed grously. She smiled at the doctor and her glowing red eyes dimmed to a soft glow of her natural ghostly eyes. Dr. Cato’s eyes were capturing a spooky scene. He didn’t like that soft smile of hers and glowing eyes beneath this red environment.

She raised one of hers to her mouth and giggled. “Sorry, that’s out of my boundaries, I can’t involve myself in this mess unless I know it’s the right time and place.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Huh?! Wh-What do you—?”

“Sure they were alone at the time, but If I involved myself to destroy her, then it’ll destroy the poor souls she’s consumed too.”

Dr. Cato didn’t like the answer to that, he began crawling towards her until he stopped moving completely, almost as if someone was stopping him from moving.

“What a load of crap, but know this… spirit. If you ever get in my way of saving Angela, then I won’t hesitate to fight with the likes of you as well.”

The woman in red swapped her hip to the side and made a rose appear out of thin air, bringing it up to her face. “I’m fine with that, you don’t have to worry about me coming across your path. I want to save her as well, but know this, doctor…”

The red skies crackled in anger, rose petals flew across the fields and in the distance trees of red grew from the earth. The woman’s smile faded and she looked dead serious into his blinding eyes as Dr. Cato moaned in dying anger.

“You two think you know what’s hiding beneath the shadows of this world, but you’re nowhere near discovering the mysteries and surprises that dwell in society's shadows!” She ruptured into a storm of rose petals and soon afterwards Dr. Cato lay dead on the ground.

His vision was black, his ears rang, the darkness he’s seeing had nothing to it; personifying perfect desolation.

Am-Am I… dead? Dr. Cato thought. Who was that woman… she looked like an angel, sounded like one,—yet, she wasn’t acting like one that’s for sure. Whatever she was, I have to be careful, it appears we have another enemy at hand.

In reality, back inside his partner's office, Mathew’s staring at his friend who appeared to be passed out on the ground. He looked confused as to why his partners on the ground out cold. That was until Dr. Cato snorted loudly, but not that of slumber, but one out of his airways giving out. Dr. Cato was beginning to death rattle. Mathew hurried and began CPR and quickly, his rattling came to a stop. Dr. Cato gasped and Mathew shook to wake him up. He finally awakes and grabs his head from throbbing pain.

Mathew shook him again. “Hey, you alright?! Damn it man, I thought you were gonna die there for a second, scared me there for a moment.”

Dr.Cato stood back up and turned to Mathew with a serious look. “Ma-Mathew… tell me if you got this friend of yours to help us now?”

Mathew sighed and smiled. “Sure did! But seriously though, why did you death rattle my friend?”

Dr. Cato didn’t respond. The doctor walked off and went to his desk. Mathew watched his partner mysteriously sit down, hanging his head and not saying a word. His face looked drenched in fear and his face was as still as a statue.

“What’s gotten into you, huh?” Mathew asked as he casually pulled a cigar out.

Dr. Cato stayed quiet again and reached for that same photo of Angela and her father on his desk. He stared deep into it, remembering the memories of her father and himself. The two would hangout after work after a long day, talking about their future, but something along the lines of his rewinding caught his attention. Not once did her father ever mention about his wife or the mother of Angela; it was only two days prior to the accident that took both of their lives. Even when she appeared alongside him at certain events, Dr. Cato never got a full look at her face, and he barely talked about her. It was only that specific day of the promise he passed down to him that he spoke more about her.

“That woman… her voice, it sounded similar to his wife.” Dr. Cato muttered.

Mathew walked up to his desk and stared at his friend who was lost in his trance. “Cato? You good?”

The day after, his wife then spoke to Dr. Cato personally but over the phone, the day before the accident. The more he remembered the more these mysteries were correlating with each other.

“They may have looked different in appearance, but there's no doubt, the more I’m remembering that phone call, their voices are just too similar to just push aside.” Dr. Cato whispered.

Mathew had enough and slammed his hand on Dr. Cato’s desk. “Hey, snap out of it and quit talking to yourself. What’s going on Cato?!” Mathew said in a frustrated tone.

Dr. Cato brought his eyes up and said, “Jack, he’s reunited with the girl now.” in a saddened tone.

Mathew was just about to puff his cigarette until that statement went into his ears. The big man brought the cigarette forward and rotated it, staring at it until he crushed it. Smoke snuck between the cracks of his fist and his skin sizzled from the once burning edge.

“How do you know that?” Mathew replied, a hint of anger within his relaxed tone.

Dr. Cato got out of his chair and staggered his way back to the window overlooking Flint. “Some mysterious spirit woman in a red dress told me… and that is also your answer as to why I almost succumbed to a slumbering death.”

Mathew walked to the trash can to throw away the remnants of the cigar he crushed. He stomped back to his partner's side and overlooked the crime drenched city as well.

Mathew let out a deep groan. “Is that so? Spirit woman in a red dress… Well shit, more bitches in dresses I see.” He shook his head and returned his smile.”But the good news is that we have professionals on their way, and trust me my friend; they’re more than enough to handle not just the girl in white, but whatever this woman in a red dress is.”

Dr. Cato frowned and showed a grimace. “I-I hope… things are getting out of hand, Mathew. And we’re at our peak of what we can do in terms of suppressing these abnormalities.”

“Yeah no kidding. By the way, what about the black guy with Jack; don’t you want revenge on that meathead for beating your ass too?”

Dr. Cato shook his head and deeply sighed. “No, I’m not that type of person. I only retaliated because my life was in danger at that moment, but I would never wish death on someone, only out of sheer anger when I’m not thinking.” He leans his head against the window, “I would never do that, because if I did…” Dr. Cato clenches his fist, “Then I’d be the same as Jack.”

Mathew pats his partners back to ease his emotions. They both stared out the window, wondering if they’ll ever get Angela back and save her from that wretched girl in the white dress. Also thinking of who this woman in the red dress is.

***

Outside the city of Detroit within a small striving town where all three girls loved hanging out in, currently, Jack and Sarah were alone, sitting awkwardly in front of each other at some local coffee shop. Anna did tag along earlier, but she had to go home to take care of something for her grandparents. But the blonde girl also left them alone for the moment and with a motive behind it since she found Sarah pinned against the wall with Jack’s arm over her shoulder behind the building of the restroom. Sarah’s on edge, her hands clutching the rough denim of her black shorts, the goth girl still felt afraid of Jack after what happened half an hour ago.

This is surreal, I can’t believe this is happening, but… I kinda feel unsafe around him. Sarah thought.

Her eyes looked everywhere inside the coffee shop, catching glimpse of folks drinking their hot drinks, taking part in online business meetings, reading, casually relaxing yet these two young adults looked out of place. Their appearance with Jack’s rough outfit, Sarah’s dusty gothic clothing from the earliest fight, the two were emotionally drained.

Sarah patted herself and whispered, “What do I say, he’s not the same as before. The idiot did pull a gun on me.”

Jack did pull a gun on her so Sarah had every right to feel cautious. Jack also felt a little on edge knowing the fact that an old friend possessed unnatural abilities that defied normality.

I can’t bring myself to look at her, especially after the little stunt I pulled at the end. But what else could I have done? I had no other option to calm her down, otherwise I would’ve been killed. Jack thought.

The young man was looking away, and had one of his hands on the grip of his gun. He didn’t show any of these nervous emotions swirling inside, but in Sarah’s eyes she thought he looked calm and relaxed in the moment. She nervously grabbed the coffee she ordered and sipped. Her hand shook, she couldn’t help feeling anxious.

Jack looked straight and watched as she set her coffee mug down. “Sa-Sarah… are you okay?” Jack asked, grabbing his own coffee mug but still gripping his gun in secresty.

Sarah takes a deep breath and briefly looks away then hangs her head. “You’re… you’re-you’re—”

Jack was just about to take a sip of his coffee but her stuttering made him stop and pull the hammer back on his gun. “Huh? What are you trying to say?”

She lowers her hands to her thighs and clenches her shorts once again. “An—ass-hole…”

Jack softly gasped and moaned. He let go of his gun the moment her soft mature voice hit his eardrums. He’s regretting his current actions and feels like a jerk.

“Sarah…” Jack said softly.

Sarah’s face was red, Jack seemed vexed. The two young adults stayed quiet for a moment until she looked up again. Her eyes were sharp yet she looked mildly upset. Jack felt guilt strike him tenfold, this was the first time he’s ever been insulted by her. When they were kids they hardly talked to each other but when they did, they got along well.

Jack, who felt kinda uncomfortable wanted to stand up and leave but saw the goth girl being on the brink of tears. “Hey, um, look, I know this situation is very alarming and confusing, but let's try to talk this out. Does that sound fine to you?”

Sarah wiped her eyes and nodded. “Y-Yeah… sorry for being so rude, it’s just; normal to react this way when someone puts a gun to your face, you know?”

Jack sighed and pulled out a napkin from the middle of the table, handing her one. “I understand far too well. But you can’t also blame me reacting this way from all this supernatural crap, right?”

Sarah left Jack hanging for a moment but grabbed the napkin and wiped her eyes. “I suppose, but the gun, where did you get that from?”

“Well I’ve had it since I was twelve, not a big deal really. Yet what’s more important here is how did you obtain this abnormal strength and how long have you hid it from us?” Jack said, bringing out a serious tone towards the end.

Sarah scratched her head, groaning. She rubbed her face and lay an arm on the table, thinking of a proper way to respond to Jack’s complex question.

Sarah moaned in frustration and placed one of her hands on the side of her face, leaning on it in annoyance. “That’s not easy to answer, Jack. But this violent mindset of yours, it’s not like you, well the version that we knew when we were younger. Now though, you look and act like a delinquent.”

Jack grabbed his coffee and drank half of it. “Ah, well I wouldn’t just judge me like that off the back miss, ‘I’m going to kill you with my witch type powers I’ve been hiding from my friends since I was a child.’ Because the version of you that I knew never had a killing mindset.”

Sarah quickly lowers her head in shame. “No… it’s not like that, but I can retort the same question back to you; how did you obtain such similarities as me when it comes to the abnormal strength you just said?”

Now Jack felt like a bashing fool, “Well, it’s complicated to be honest. A lot’s happened in these eight years, you know?” He leans back on the chair and rests his arms on his legs. “Sorry for scaring you, to answer your question, I’m not a witch like you if that’s what you thought.”

Sarah looks at Jack and brings her eyes to her coffee cup, staring at its swirling tinted brown blackness. “Things just grow weirder and scarier as I get older, don't they?” Sarah muttered.

Jack moaned and drank the rest of his coffee, wiping his lips with his sleeve. Sarah took another sip and deeply sighed, easing her emotions.

“My apologies for attacking you, Jack. But how should I know that an old friend of mine who’s been reported dead for eight years is suddenly alive and possesses the same abnormalities as I?! So of course I reacted in a way that would fall in the category of self-defence.”

“Hey hey, slow down. I understand, I get chu. To make this all easier to understand and gather why I’m suddenly back in your guys lifes, mainly because you guys were lied to by the stupid police.”

Sarah rests her arms on the table and leans her head on them. “So more questions for us to ask and you possibly might or not answer… Heh, this month's been the craziest for all of us I see.”

“Yeah… you’re not the only one you know?” Jack said with a disappointed look on his face. “That’s for damn sure, this has been a crazy month for all of us.” Jack whispered.

Sarah grabs Jack’s hand all of a sudden, staring at his palm. “I’m not surprised you grew up on a different path. People change of course despite the path they take. Yet as I stare into your rough palm, you’ve gone through so much…”

Jack frowned and watched as the goth girl stared deep into his scarred past at the centre of his hand.

“Just by looking into your palm, Jack, I can tell that you've experienced pain far worse than any of us could have.” She swirls her finger tip on his palm, tickling him a bit. “You have something else you're hiding from us too, don’t you?”

Jack stared at Sarah and she did as well. They’re eyeing each other, each waiting to see how the other will respond and carry the conversation further. He grabs her hand and clenches it, surprising her. Sarah had a still face, waiting to see what Jack would do next. Jack felt her warmth pulsing onto his rough skin.

He looked out the window next to them before responding and grinned. “You're really good at this, you know that?” He pats her hand, “thank you for understanding, Sarah.”

Sarah’s mouth slightly opened, both brows mildly raised in shock. She blinked and lightly grinned. “I’m no counsellor, but I’m happy to help, and we’re glad you’ve reunited with us. I guess this is a sign from the guardians.”

“Guardians? I thought you were about to say something cliched like God or something?”

Sarah chuckles, she grabs Jack’s hand and drags him up off his seat. “That’s for me to know and not you sir. Now, let’s go back to Anna, shall we?”

Jack smirks, “Sure, let’s head back.” The two walked out of the coffee shop not before paying and headed to Anna’s home.

Along the way, Sarah talked about how much her personality changed, making Jack feel proud of her. The once shy goth girl who often did speak told funny jokes that made Jack laugh in the past and burped out of embarrassment was no more. During their long walk, she complimented his shape and asked how he was able to stay in good health despite the rough lifestyle. Jack only gave her a brief reply of running away and the many street fights that helped burn calories. She didn’t like that half ass response so in retaliation she brought up how scary looking he is as an insult. He didn’t like that and decided to flick Sarah’s forehead, joking about her height and mentioning she barely grew from their last encounter.

Hmph, pull a gun and now insult my height are you? I’ll show you, sir. Sarah thought.

When they were getting close to Anna’s front yard, Sarah jolted her head to the right to summon a branch to slap Jack across his face. He was smacked by it, creating a loud donk of skull and wood. Jack coughs and spits leaves out of his mouth. Sarah smirked and Jack groaned, wondering why that happened. They arrive at Anna’s grandparents home, walking on the small path leading to the front door and knocking.

As they stood there, Jack took the time to check Sarah’s outfit out. Sarah noticed, feeling his scanning gaze upon her. “What, what’re you—?”

Jack shrugged, “Nothing, I just wanted to look at your outfit better. You remind me of someone that dresses the same as you in a way, that’s all.”

Sarah put her hands on her hips and tilts. “So… you like outfits like mine then? If that’s your conclusion.”

Jack nods, patting Sarah’s back. “Of course, I think it’s awesome.”

Sarah crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She gripped her small chin and mildly smiled. That’s the first time I've heard someone compliment my outfit without any lustful motives or seeing me as eye candy.

Sarah's face turned a little red from hearing Jack’s compliment. She looked at him with a raised brow and half smile. “That’s the first time someone complimented my outfit genuinely besides Anna and Veronica, thank you.”

Jack gave her a thumbs up. “No problem, we’re friends after all.”

Anna finally answers the door and hugs Jack right away, leaving Sarah out. Jack took notice and pulled Sarah in, creating a group hug. All three walked inside and Anna wanted Jack to stay overnight again. Jack refused immediately, surprising her.

“Huh?! Wh-Why not?” Anna asked, disappointed.

Jack put his hands on her shoulders, looking into her glistening green gems. “I’m grateful, Anna, really, but I have to get back to the hotel I’m staying in. It’s quite far so I gotta go, I can’t tell you why all of a sudden, but it’s important. I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?”

Anna looked sad, but she understood. “You promise, I know it’s a little selfish of me to ask and be needy; I just can’t help it, you know?”

Jack smiled and hugged her. “It’s not your fault, Anna. I’m just in a very complicated situation, but I promise as soon as these things are resolved, I swear everything will be fine up ahead.”

Anna wrapped her arms around him. “May I ask, what is it that’s making you leave in a hurry?”

Jack let go and walked away without replying. The two girls watched as he left the path but stopped at the entrance. They waited. Anna clutched her chest, Sarah was calm, they’re not sure why he suddenly left like that and brought himself to a pause.

Jack turned to them and said, “Sorry Anna, I don’t think you're ready to hear the truth.”

He leaves and the two girls are left alone. Anna looked even sadder and clung onto Sarah, whimpering. Sarah rubbed her head and watched as the young man walked off into the setting sun. Even though Anna felt sad, she felt more curious to know where Jack might have gone, so did Sarah as she pampered her whimpering best friend. The two walked inside and Anna quickly went into the kitchen to wash her face.

Sarah throws her things on the ground and lays down on Anna’s couch, exhausted after such a life turning day. After Anna finished washing her face, she came back into the living room and accidently jumped on Sarah, who yelped. Anna wasn’t paying attention because of her mere excitement, sadness, and curiosity about Jack. Sarah coughs loudly and shouts to Anna to “Watch where you jump! dummy!”

Anna giggled. “Oops, I’m sorry miss edgelord.” Anna got off of her and sat beside.

Sarah rubbed her back and sat up. “You could have broken my back with your heavy ass, Jesus.”

Anna laughed. She’s too happy to pay any sort of attention to Sarah’s pain at the moment because of what’s occurred the past two days. Despite the happiness, she still feels sad that Jack still can’t bring himself to tell her everything or more importantly, the truth. Both girls laid back on the couch, Anna grabbed the remote and turned on the flat screen T.V.

The two watched a drama show for a little until Anna remembered something. “Oh yeah, so short stuff! How was your day with Jack huh?” Anna asked, leaning close to Sarah’s face.

Sarah smirks and gently pushes Anna away. “It went pretty well, awkward at first, scary perhaps, but at the end, it was—nice.”

Anna had a smug look on her face, “Oh? Is that all though! I was being a sneaky bitch and peeped through my peep hole you know?”

Sarah wiped her smile and raised a brow towards Anna. “Oh? And what did you hear, smug bitch?”

Anna hovered her hand over her mouth, getting into Sarah’s face. “I saw you guys talking all friendly, especially when he complimented your outfit. The way you blushed was so adorable!” Anna jumps on Sarah and hugs her.

Sarah chuckles, shaking her head. “Yeah, you got me alright. He's still the same nice guy we once knew huh?”

“Yeah, it appears so. But his body is so torn, it still devastates me that he didn’t have the chance to live out his teenage years.”

“Poor guy, we can only imagine what type of rough life he’s endured all this time.”

Anna gets off of Sarah and stares at the T.V. “He’s only told me the things his bodies experienced. He hasn’t mentioned anything else, and I feel like he still doesn’t want to either.”

“Hmm, so his life’s a complete mystery to us so far? We know a brief synopsis of his new life, but I guess as time goes on, we’ll know more. It can’t be helped anyways.”

Anna gasps and remembers something else,“Veronica!” Anna shouted, briefly standing up. “She still doesn’t know! Does she?!”

Sarah raised both brows in amusement. “Oh yeah, you’re right. We should surprise her tomorrow about it! Hehe, I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she realises he’s alive.”

Anna giggles, “Yeah that’ll be great to see! By the way Sarah, when you blushed was it really just from the compliment or are you actually—?”

“It was from the compliment, nothing else. You damn hopeless romantic shipper.”

“And an immediate answer! Well that straight face of yours definitely doesn’t lie.”

Sarah smiles again, “Hmph, it should be either you or Veronica that wants him right? You’ve always talked about him when we were kids, even after his supposed death, you still talked about it. To be honest, I thought you were delusional at this point from how serious you were that he was still alive.”

Anna pouts her face in annoyance. “Wow… you’re as cold as your skin, but nah! I don’t see him that way… Well not anymore I suppose.”

“What happened? Was it because of Veronica or something else, you think?” Sarah asked in suspicion.

Anna crossed her arms and laid back on the couch. “I can’t explain it… but you’re probably right. It was as if someone came by and changed my feelings for him, strange right?”

Sarah stares at the T.V as well, growing a glint in her eye. “Yeah… it is strange. Someday we’ll find out why you had a sudden change, Anna.”

Anna didn’t like Sarah’s tone towards the end of her sentence. It made Anna suspicious towards her little friend, but alas, the blonde girl brushed it off and continued watching the show alongside Sarah. The two watched in silence, and hardly moved. Sarah couldn’t help knowing that Anna has something nasty inside her, and she doesn’t know how to tell her about it without Anna calling her a freak.

I swear, I’ll find that girl and the source of the nastiness that dwells not only within my best friend, but within Jack as well. Sarah’s glint grew sharper and the goth girl furrowed her brows, menacingly.